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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. race — a contest
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. field — farmland
  6. root — of a word
  7. race — humankind
  8. root — the cause
  9. field — for sport
  10. march — the month
  11. season — in sport
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. march — music
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. race — the arms race
  18. capital — money
  19. march — the month
  20. root — of a plant
  21. season — of the year
  22. field — a subject
  23. capital — a city
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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