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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: leaves · last · race · press · lean · band · row · field

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. last — finally
  4. last — final
  5. race — humankind
  6. press — to push
  7. band — a music group
  8. press — a publisher
  9. field — farmland
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. press — newspapers
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. field — a subject
  15. lean — thin
  16. field — for sport
  17. lean — to bend
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. race — the arms race
  20. last — to go on
  21. row — a line
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. band — a ring
  24. row — to paddle

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