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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 120 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: mouse · bound · field · court · race · pop · ground · file

  1. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. ground — crushed
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. race — a contest
  5. court — for sport
  6. field — for sport
  7. file — a document
  8. pop — to visit
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. bound — obliged
  11. court — of law
  12. court — of a king
  13. pop — music
  14. race — humankind
  15. ground — a position
  16. bound — tied together
  17. file — a tool
  18. ground — the earth
  19. pop — soda
  20. field — farmland
  21. field — a subject
  22. bound — certain
  23. file — a line of people
  24. race — the arms race

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