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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. land — a country
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. race — a contest
  8. spell — a short time
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. field — farmland
  11. spell — letters
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. cold — not warm
  14. race — the arms race
  15. land — to come down
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. rest — a break
  19. rest — what's left
  20. cold — an illness
  21. race — humankind
  22. spell — magic
  23. land — ground
  24. rest — what's left

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