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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: race · pit · cold · stick · suit · field

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. race — a contest
  3. suit — clothes
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. suit — in cards
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. cold — an illness
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pit — a hole
  11. race — humankind
  12. field — for sport
  13. pit — in a race
  14. suit — to fit
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. race — the arms race
  18. field — a subject

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