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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: chest · safe · pit · pitcher · race · lean · field · board

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. lean — to bend
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — a box
  6. field — farmland
  7. pit — in a race
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. board — a committee
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. race — a contest
  12. race — humankind
  13. race — the arms race
  14. board — to get on
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. pit — a hole
  19. chest — of your body
  20. lean — thin
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — for sport

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