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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: race · kick · cap · field · file · branch · jam · rash

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. file — a tool
  4. race — humankind
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. branch — a division
  8. field — farmland
  9. cap — of ice
  10. field — for sport
  11. cap — a lid
  12. kick — in football
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. field — a subject
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. rash — a series
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. file — a line of people
  21. rash — hasty
  22. race — a contest
  23. cap — a hat
  24. file — a document

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