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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. root — of a plant
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. root — of a word
  6. race — a contest
  7. field — a subject
  8. race — humankind
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. cell — in biology
  11. field — for sport
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. root — the cause
  14. cell — a phone
  15. squash — the sport
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. squash — to crush
  19. date — the fruit
  20. race — the arms race
  21. field — farmland
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. kid — child
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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