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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: race · saw · racket · field · straw · file · prune · date

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. saw — the tool
  3. race — humankind
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. file — a line of people
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. race — a contest
  8. prune — to trim
  9. date — the fruit
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. file — a document
  14. file — a tool
  15. saw — the tool
  16. race — the arms race
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. prune — to trim
  20. field — farmland
  21. field — for sport
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. field — a subject
  24. straw — dry grass

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