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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: wake · degree · toast · field · land · pitch · race · bulb

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. race — the arms race
  3. land — a country
  4. toast — bread
  5. race — a contest
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. field — farmland
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. bulb — for light
  11. pitch — completely
  12. field — for sport
  13. degree — temperature
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. field — a subject
  16. land — to come down
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. race — humankind
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. wake — a trail
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — from a university
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. bulb — for light

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