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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: race · rock · hand · kick · wake · field · clip · bowl

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. race — a contest
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. field — for sport
  5. rock — a stone
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. hand — help
  11. kick — in football
  12. field — farmland
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. hand — in cards
  15. clip — a video
  16. rock — music
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. field — a subject
  21. race — humankind
  22. wake — a trail
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. kick — with a leg

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