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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 116 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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — a subject
  5. root — the cause
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. race — the arms race
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. rush — hurry
  12. saw — the tool
  13. bat — the animal
  14. saw — the tool
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. field — for sport
  17. race — humankind
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. race — a contest
  20. wake — a trail
  21. root — of a plant
  22. root — of a word
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. rush — to hurry

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