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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: chest · lean · pitch · deal · race · field · drill · lash

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. pitch — completely
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. chest — a box
  7. lean — thin
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. deal — to handle
  11. race — a contest
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. field — for sport
  14. chest — of your body
  15. drill — army training
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. race — humankind
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — a practice
  20. lean — to bend
  21. chest — of your body
  22. race — the arms race
  23. field — a subject
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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