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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. field — for sport
  3. race — a contest
  4. race — the arms race
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. kid — to tease
  7. squash — to crush
  8. field — farmland
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. roll — a cake
  11. kid — child
  12. field — a subject
  13. roll — a list
  14. current — of water
  15. current — electric
  16. race — humankind
  17. squash — the sport
  18. current — happening now

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