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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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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: fall · track · deal · temple · mate · wind · race · field

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  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. field — a subject
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. fall — to drop
  4. mate — to breed
  5. mate — a friend
  6. race — the arms race
  7. track — a song
  8. deal — to handle
  9. track — to keep track
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. race — humankind
  12. fall — to drop
  13. wind — moving air
  14. track — a path
  15. wind — moving air
  16. mate — a partner
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. fall — the season
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. field — farmland
  22. race — a contest
  23. temple — side of the head
  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