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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. field — farmland
  3. pop — music
  4. present — a gift
  5. ball — a great time
  6. race — a contest
  7. pop — soda
  8. race — the arms race
  9. pop — to visit
  10. present — there
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. ground — the earth
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. field — for sport
  15. last — to go on
  16. present — the time now
  17. last — finally
  18. race — humankind
  19. pitch — completely
  20. ground — a position
  21. field — a subject
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. ground — crushed
  24. ball — a dance

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