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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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Word bank
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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: march · press · date · race · field · wake

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. field — farmland
  3. wake — a trail
  4. race — the arms race
  5. field — for sport
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. race — humankind
  8. march — music
  9. march — the month
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. press — a publisher
  12. press — newspapers
  13. press — to push
  14. date — the fruit
  15. march — the month
  16. race — a contest
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. wake — to stop sleeping

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