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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 124 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kid · race · wind · lie · field · bowl

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. wind — moving air
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. field — a subject
  6. kid — child
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. kid — to tease
  9. field — for sport
  10. race — a contest
  11. field — farmland
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. race — humankind
  14. race — the arms race
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. lie — to recline
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bowl — a football final

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