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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: straw · present · saw · mate · race · ground · dip · field

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. ground — the earth
  3. race — the arms race
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. present — a gift
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. field — for sport
  8. mate — a friend
  9. saw — the tool
  10. field — a subject
  11. race — a contest
  12. saw — the tool
  13. field — farmland
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. present — the time now
  16. ground — crushed
  17. present — there
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. mate — to breed
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. race — humankind
  22. ground — a position
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. dip — to sink

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