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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: march · spring · field · hide · pitch · race · content · straw

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. field — for sport
  3. field — farmland
  4. pitch — completely
  5. march — the month
  6. content — the amount
  7. race — humankind
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. race — a contest
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. content — happy
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. spring — a coil
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. march — music
  20. march — the month
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. spring — the season
  23. field — a subject
  24. spring — of water

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