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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.

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: straw · file · field · capital · scale · race · pitcher · mate

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. race — a contest
  3. mate — a friend
  4. race — humankind
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. field — a subject
  7. mate — to breed
  8. mate — a partner
  9. file — a tool
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. race — the arms race
  13. field — for sport
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. capital — money
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. field — farmland
  20. scale — in music
  21. scale — size or range
  22. capital — a city
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. file — a document

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