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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: charge · field · perch · pound · kid · race

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  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. race — a contest
  2. charge — electricity
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. charge — a price
  6. pound — a weight
  7. field — farmland
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. kid — to tease
  12. charge — in control
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — a subject
  15. kid — child
  16. race — humankind
  17. race — the arms race
  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