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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: drill · race · field · coach · pitcher · roll · rule · last

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. field — for sport
  4. race — a contest
  5. roll — a cake
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. roll — a list
  8. field — a subject
  9. last — to go on
  10. rule — a law
  11. drill — the tool
  12. race — humankind
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. last — final
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. drill — a practice
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. last — finally
  21. drill — army training
  22. race — the arms race
  23. field — farmland
  24. coach — a trainer

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