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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: band · season · fall · object · field · mine · race · land

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. land — a country
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. band — a ring
  6. mine — for digging
  7. field — a subject
  8. object — to protest
  9. season — of the year
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. field — for sport
  12. race — a contest
  13. field — farmland
  14. race — the arms race
  15. season — in sport
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. land — ground
  18. fall — to drop
  19. band — a music group
  20. fall — to drop
  21. object — an aim
  22. race — humankind
  23. object — a thing
  24. land — to come down

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