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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: tear · last · mate · race · wave · stand · field · hand

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. mate — a partner
  3. hand — in cards
  4. race — a contest
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. last — final
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. tear — from crying
  9. field — for sport
  10. tear — from crying
  11. last — finally
  12. hand — help
  13. stand — to bear
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. race — humankind
  17. field — a subject
  18. last — to go on
  19. tear — to rip
  20. mate — a friend
  21. race — the arms race
  22. field — farmland
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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