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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. race — humankind
  5. race — the arms race
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. spring — of water
  8. scale — in music
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. chair — a leader
  12. sharp — clever
  13. face — part of the head
  14. face — to confront
  15. race — a contest
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. field — farmland
  19. field — for sport
  20. face — to point toward
  21. scale — size or range
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — the season

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