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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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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: bay · race · field · wake · stem · tube · squash · land

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. squash — to crush
  4. race — the arms race
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. land — ground
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. race — a contest
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. field — a subject
  12. tube — the underground
  13. wake — a trail
  14. race — humankind
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. tube — a container
  18. land — to come down
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — farmland
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. stem — to come from
  24. land — a country

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