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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. bat — the animal
  5. present — a gift
  6. root — of a plant
  7. present — the time now
  8. root — the cause
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — a subject
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. race — a contest
  13. root — of a word
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. race — humankind
  17. race — the arms race
  18. present — there

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