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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: wind · field · stock · swing · race · march

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  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. wind — moving air
  2. march — music
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. swing — in golf
  6. field — for sport
  7. stock — goods
  8. swing — to play on
  9. race — humankind
  10. march — the month
  11. swing — music
  12. stock — shares
  13. march — the month
  14. wind — moving air
  15. race — the arms race
  16. field — farmland
  17. race — a contest
  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