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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: toast · pitch · stem · wound · rash · race · present · field

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. race — a contest
  3. field — a subject
  4. pitch — completely
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. toast — bread
  10. wound — an injury
  11. stem — to come from
  12. rash — a series
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. race — humankind
  15. present — there
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. present — a gift
  18. wound — an injury
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. race — the arms race
  21. field — for sport
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. rash — hasty
  24. present — the time now

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