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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. race — the arms race
  3. march — the month
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. race — humankind
  6. rest — what's left
  7. wax — to grow
  8. row — a line
  9. race — a contest
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. march — the month
  13. field — a subject
  14. shower — to wash
  15. shower — rain
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. rest — what's left
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. row — to paddle
  20. field — farmland
  21. rest — a break
  22. march — music
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. shower — a meteor shower

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com