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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. scale — size or range
  4. scale — in music
  5. field — farmland
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. race — a contest
  8. cold — not warm
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. field — for sport
  11. race — humankind
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. cold — an illness
  14. prune — to trim
  15. root — of a word
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. race — the arms race
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. root — of a plant
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. root — the cause
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. prune — to trim

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