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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. pop — soda
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. band — a ring
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. pop — to visit
  8. shower — to wash
  9. shower — rain
  10. fork — in a road
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. race — humankind
  15. band — a music group
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. race — a contest
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. race — the arms race
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. field — a subject
  22. pop — music
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. field — for sport

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