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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: nail · pop · race · fall · chip · can · file · field

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  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. field — for sport
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. field — a subject
  6. pop — soda
  7. chip — to eat
  8. field — farmland
  9. file — a tool
  10. pop — music
  11. can — to be able to
  12. can — a tin
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. race — humankind
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — the season
  18. file — a document
  19. can — a tin
  20. chip — for betting
  21. file — a line of people
  22. pop — to visit
  23. race — a contest
  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