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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wound — an injury
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. race — humankind
  6. field — for sport
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. ground — the earth
  9. capital — a city
  10. ground — a position
  11. race — the arms race
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. ground — crushed
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. field — a subject
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. wound — an injury
  19. race — a contest
  20. capital — money
  21. field — farmland
  22. perch — the fish
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. perch — for a bird

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