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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: tube · race · capital · field · pitcher · branch · swing · bowl

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. field — for sport
  3. field — farmland
  4. capital — money
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. swing — to play on
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. race — a contest
  9. field — a subject
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. swing — in golf
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. capital — a city
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. race — humankind
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. branch — a division
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. tube — the underground
  21. tube — a container
  22. race — the arms race
  23. swing — music
  24. bowl — to roll

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