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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 124 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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. pound — a weight
  3. tube — a container
  4. cold — not warm
  5. last — final
  6. field — for sport
  7. rush — hurry
  8. field — farmland
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. tube — the underground
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. rule — government
  20. cold — an illness
  21. rule — a law
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. last — to go on
  24. last — finally

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