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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 120 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: snap · race · bark · wind · field · cap

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — farmland
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. field — for sport
  6. bark — to shout
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cap — of ice
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. race — the arms race
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. race — a contest
  13. snap — to click
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. cap — a hat
  16. cap — a lid
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. wind — moving air

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