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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 116 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: field · hide · wake · craft · bulb · race · cold · pitch

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. field — for sport
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. craft — boats
  8. pitch — completely
  9. field — a subject
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. bulb — for light
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. race — humankind
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. craft — a skill
  17. bulb — for light
  18. race — the arms race
  19. cold — an illness
  20. wake — a trail
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. race — a contest
  24. cold — the Cold War

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