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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. race — the arms race
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. spell — magic
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. field — for sport
  9. race — humankind
  10. ground — the earth
  11. spell — a short time
  12. ground — a position
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. ground — crushed
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — farmland
  20. wind — moving air
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. wind — moving air
  23. spell — letters
  24. race — a contest

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