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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 116 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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. firm — steady
  3. rule — a law
  4. clip — for paper
  5. race — the arms race
  6. fall — to drop
  7. firm — a company
  8. rule — government
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. clip — a video
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. firm — decided
  13. prune — to trim
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. clip — to cut
  16. prune — to trim
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — for sport
  19. race — a contest
  20. fall — the season
  21. fall — to drop
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. race — humankind
  24. prune — the fruit

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