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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: root · race · chair · field · season · jam · pitch · shower

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. shower — to wash
  3. season — in sport
  4. field — a subject
  5. root — of a plant
  6. race — humankind
  7. field — for sport
  8. race — a contest
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. race — the arms race
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. root — of a word
  15. field — farmland
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. pitch — completely
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. root — the cause
  22. shower — rain
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. season — of the year

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