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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. file — a tool
  3. squash — to crush
  4. field — farmland
  5. degree — from a university
  6. file — a document
  7. race — the arms race
  8. fine — high quality
  9. race — a contest
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. fine — all right
  12. degree — an amount
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. degree — temperature
  15. field — for sport
  16. field — a subject
  17. fall — to drop
  18. squash — the sport
  19. fall — to drop
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. file — a line of people
  23. fall — the season
  24. race — humankind

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