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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 124 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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. prune — to trim
  3. saw — the tool
  4. race — humankind
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — the season
  7. field — farmland
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. prune — to trim
  10. present — a gift
  11. saw — the tool
  12. race — a contest
  13. present — there
  14. present — the time now
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. field — a subject
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. bore — to tire
  20. bore — to drill
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. race — the arms race
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. spring — of water

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