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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. net — after costs
  3. swing — music
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. wound — an injury
  6. field — a subject
  7. vault — a safe
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. race — a contest
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. land — ground
  12. race — the arms race
  13. net — in sport
  14. land — a country
  15. land — to come down
  16. rush — hurry
  17. wound — an injury
  18. field — farmland
  19. swing — in golf
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. race — humankind
  22. field — for sport
  23. net — for catching
  24. swing — to play on

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