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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 120 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: ball · march · dip · wake · race · field · file · shower

  1. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  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. dip — a sauce
  2. field — a subject
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. march — the month
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. march — music
  7. file — a line of people
  8. shower — to wash
  9. wake — a trail
  10. file — a document
  11. ball — a dance
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. shower — rain
  14. file — a tool
  15. race — the arms race
  16. race — humankind
  17. ball — a great time
  18. race — a contest
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. march — the month
  21. field — farmland
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. dip — to sink
  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