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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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. fall — to drop
  4. field — for sport
  5. race — the arms race
  6. rock — a stone
  7. squash — the sport
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. race — humankind
  11. field — farmland
  12. capital — money
  13. fall — the season
  14. capital — a city
  15. root — of a word
  16. rock — music
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. fall — to drop
  19. root — the cause
  20. root — of a plant
  21. squash — to crush
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. field — a subject
  24. race — a contest

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