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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: pop · club · race · straw · ground · field · drill · cap

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. club — for dancing
  3. pop — soda
  4. drill — the tool
  5. race — humankind
  6. field — a subject
  7. cap — a hat
  8. club — a group
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — crushed
  11. race — the arms race
  12. drill — army training
  13. pop — music
  14. drill — a practice
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. club — for golf
  17. field — farmland
  18. cap — a lid
  19. cap — of ice
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. ground — a position
  22. pop — to visit
  23. race — a contest
  24. field — for sport

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