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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: shower · land · cap · racket · track · field · race · lean

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. track — a path
  3. field — a subject
  4. shower — to wash
  5. race — the arms race
  6. land — a country
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. track — a song
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. cap — a hat
  11. shower — rain
  12. land — to come down
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. lean — thin
  15. lean — to bend
  16. race — a contest
  17. field — for sport
  18. land — ground
  19. cap — a lid
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. cap — of ice
  22. field — farmland
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. track — to keep track

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