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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: race · fall · racket · bulb · game · leaves · field · toast

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — humankind
  4. fall — to drop
  5. toast — bread
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — the season
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. game — a match
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. field — farmland
  15. bulb — for light
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. field — for sport
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. race — the arms race
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. field — a subject
  23. game — wild animals
  24. bulb — for light

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