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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: pound · ball · field · foot · spell · race · date · cold

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. ball — a great time
  4. race — humankind
  5. ball — a dance
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. cold — not warm
  9. field — a subject
  10. spell — a short time
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. cold — an illness
  13. field — for sport
  14. spell — magic
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. spell — letters
  17. foot — a measure
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. race — the arms race
  21. field — farmland
  22. race — a contest
  23. pound — a weight
  24. date — the fruit

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