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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: cell · field · race · coach · arm · last · game · kick

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. 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. last — to go on
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. cell — a phone
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. field — for sport
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. last — final
  10. race — the arms race
  11. race — a contest
  12. game — wild animals
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cell — in biology
  16. game — a match
  17. last — finally
  18. race — humankind
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. kick — in football
  21. field — farmland
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. 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