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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: field · snap · tear · wind · race · key · chair · net

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. chair — a leader
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. key — in music
  7. net — in sport
  8. race — a contest
  9. net — after costs
  10. key — the most important part
  11. key — for a lock
  12. race — humankind
  13. race — the arms race
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — moving air
  17. net — for catching
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — from crying
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. tear — to rip
  24. snap — to click

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