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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 116 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: bank · bat · field · file · last · craft · rest · race

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — the arms race
  4. craft — a skill
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. field — a subject
  8. rest — what's left
  9. last — final
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bank — for money
  12. rest — a break
  13. field — for sport
  14. bank — of a river
  15. race — humankind
  16. bat — the animal
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a tool
  19. last — to go on
  20. bank — for money
  21. craft — boats
  22. file — a line of people
  23. last — finally
  24. field — farmland

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