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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 · deal · field · rest · fall · swing

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. swing — to play on
  3. fall — to drop
  4. race — a contest
  5. race — the arms race
  6. field — a subject
  7. fall — the season
  8. deal — to handle
  9. fall — to drop
  10. rest — what's left
  11. race — humankind
  12. swing — in golf
  13. rest — a break
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. rest — what's left
  16. field — farmland
  17. field — for sport
  18. swing — music

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