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

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. mark — a grade
  3. chest — of your body
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. mark — a trace
  6. fine — all right
  7. fine — high quality
  8. race — humankind
  9. chest — of your body
  10. race — a contest
  11. race — the arms race
  12. wound — an injury
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — farmland
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. field — a subject
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'

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