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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. field — for sport
  3. last — to go on
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. field — farmland
  6. race — the arms race
  7. pit — in a race
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. land — a country
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. land — ground
  12. cell — a phone
  13. field — a subject
  14. land — to come down
  15. race — a contest
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. cell — in biology
  18. pit — a hole
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. last — finally
  21. last — final
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. race — humankind
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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