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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. present — the time now
  3. chest — of your body
  4. present — a gift
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. sharp — clever
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. cue — for pool
  11. chest — of your body
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. field — for sport
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. present — there
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — farmland
  18. race — a contest
  19. cue — a signal
  20. race — humankind
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. chest — a box
  23. race — the arms race
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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