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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: mine · race · fan · field · track · rash · foot · wax

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. track — a song
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. foot — a measure
  5. field — for sport
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. track — to keep track
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — farmland
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. mine — for digging
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. rash — hasty
  17. track — a path
  18. race — the arms race
  19. race — humankind
  20. rash — a series
  21. wax — to grow
  22. race — a contest
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. foot — the bottom

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