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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. rock — music
  3. firm — a company
  4. content — the amount
  5. race — humankind
  6. race — the arms race
  7. field — a subject
  8. land — to come down
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. field — farmland
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. firm — steady
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. land — a country
  16. firm — decided
  17. wake — a trail
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. land — ground
  20. field — for sport
  21. content — happy
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. rock — a stone
  24. cold — not warm

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