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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. present — a gift
  3. field — a subject
  4. race — humankind
  5. bulb — for light
  6. field — farmland
  7. land — a country
  8. present — there
  9. race — a contest
  10. race — the arms race
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. land — to come down
  14. present — the time now
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. game — a match
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. bulb — for light
  20. game — wild animals
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. land — ground
  23. field — for sport
  24. bulb — of a plant

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