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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 116 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: lean · race · field · land · stick · drill · sharp · net

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  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. stick — a piece of wood
  2. field — a subject
  3. lean — thin
  4. lean — to bend
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. race — a contest
  7. race — the arms race
  8. drill — the tool
  9. field — farmland
  10. land — to come down
  11. net — after costs
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. drill — army training
  15. land — ground
  16. land — a country
  17. race — humankind
  18. sharp — clever
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. drill — a practice
  22. net — in sport
  23. net — for catching
  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