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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: racket · wound · mouse · prune · field · ball · race · last

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. wound — an injury
  3. field — for sport
  4. last — finally
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. race — humankind
  10. race — a contest
  11. wound — an injury
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. last — final
  14. prune — to trim
  15. ball — a dance
  16. ball — a great time
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. race — the arms race
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. last — to go on
  21. prune — to trim
  22. field — a subject
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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