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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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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: race · ball · field · rush · straw · wake · net · trunk

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. net — for catching
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — farmland
  6. race — the arms race
  7. ball — a great time
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. ball — a dance
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. rush — hurry
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. race — humankind
  14. wake — a trail
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. field — a subject
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. net — in sport
  20. net — after costs
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. race — a contest
  24. straw — dry grass

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