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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. field — farmland
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spell — letters
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. spring — the season
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. spell — magic
  10. game — wild animals
  11. wax — to grow
  12. race — the arms race
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. spring — a coil
  16. spring — of water
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. field — for sport
  19. field — a subject
  20. game — a match
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitch — completely
  23. race — a contest
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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