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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: track · press · race · field · pit · tear

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. tear — to rip
  3. field — farmland
  4. track — to keep track
  5. pit — in a race
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. pit — a hole
  8. field — a subject
  9. press — to push
  10. race — a contest
  11. track — a song
  12. track — a path
  13. press — a publisher
  14. race — the arms race
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — from crying
  17. press — newspapers
  18. race — humankind

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