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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: pitcher · field · race · pit · file · spring · rush · last

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. spring — the season
  3. last — to go on
  4. file — a document
  5. rush — hurry
  6. last — final
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pit — in a race
  9. race — the arms race
  10. race — a contest
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. spring — of water
  13. field — for sport
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. field — farmland
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. pit — a hole
  18. spring — a coil
  19. file — a line of people
  20. last — finally
  21. file — a tool
  22. race — humankind
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. field — a subject

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