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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: march · land · pitcher · key · field · race · wake · season

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. race — humankind
  3. field — farmland
  4. key — in music
  5. march — the month
  6. land — ground
  7. field — a subject
  8. march — the month
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. race — a contest
  11. season — of the year
  12. season — in sport
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. land — to come down
  15. march — music
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. land — a country
  18. wake — a trail
  19. field — for sport
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. race — the arms race
  23. key — the most important part
  24. wake — before a funeral

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