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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. field — for sport
  3. field — a subject
  4. drill — the tool
  5. tear — to rip
  6. root — the cause
  7. net — for catching
  8. field — farmland
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. net — after costs
  11. race — humankind
  12. net — in sport
  13. squash — to crush
  14. root — of a word
  15. tear — from crying
  16. drill — a practice
  17. cold — an illness
  18. root — of a plant
  19. drill — army training
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. squash — the sport
  22. race — a contest
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cold — not warm

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