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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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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: field · kid · stick · land · race · file · pound · kick

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. land — ground
  3. field — farmland
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. field — for sport
  6. land — to come down
  7. kid — to tease
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. field — a subject
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. land — a country
  12. file — a tool
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. race — humankind
  15. file — a line of people
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. kick — in football
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. file — a document
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. kid — child
  23. pound — a weight
  24. race — a contest

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