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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: object · land · swing · race · field · drill · row · mate

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. race — the arms race
  3. field — a subject
  4. race — a contest
  5. swing — in golf
  6. drill — the tool
  7. mate — a friend
  8. row — a line
  9. land — a country
  10. swing — music
  11. race — humankind
  12. field — farmland
  13. drill — army training
  14. swing — to play on
  15. object — to protest
  16. object — a thing
  17. mate — a partner
  18. land — to come down
  19. drill — a practice
  20. land — ground
  21. field — for sport
  22. row — to paddle
  23. mate — to breed
  24. object — an aim

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