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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: mate · field · chest · race · kick · pass

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. field — for sport
  4. race — humankind
  5. chest — of your body
  6. race — the arms race
  7. pass — a permit
  8. kick — in football
  9. mate — a friend
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. race — a contest
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. field — farmland
  14. mate — a partner
  15. mate — to breed
  16. chest — a box
  17. chest — of your body
  18. field — a subject

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