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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: last · field · tear · race · perch · fall

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. tear — from crying
  3. field — farmland
  4. fall — the season
  5. tear — from crying
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. race — the arms race
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. race — humankind
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fall — to drop
  12. field — a subject
  13. last — to go on
  14. last — finally
  15. tear — to rip
  16. last — final
  17. race — a contest
  18. perch — the fish

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