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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. lean — thin
  4. mate — a partner
  5. mate — to breed
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. race — a contest
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. field — a subject
  10. race — humankind
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — farmland
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. fall — the season
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. mate — a friend
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — not warm
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. fork — in a road
  22. lean — to bend
  23. race — the arms race
  24. fall — to drop

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