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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. race — the arms race
  3. staff — employees
  4. wound — an injury
  5. staff — a stick
  6. row — a line
  7. field — for sport
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. race — humankind
  11. deal — to handle
  12. spring — the season
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — a subject
  15. prune — to trim
  16. wound — an injury
  17. spring — of water
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. race — a contest
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. row — to paddle
  22. staff — employees
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. spring — a coil

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