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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: march · bark · field · lean · pound · bowl · last · race

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — the arms race
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. field — for sport
  6. last — to go on
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. lean — thin
  9. field — farmland
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. march — the month
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. race — humankind
  14. march — the month
  15. last — finally
  16. last — final
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. bark — to shout
  19. pound — a weight
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. march — music
  23. field — a subject
  24. lean — to rest against

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