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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. race — humankind
  4. chip — to eat
  5. race — the arms race
  6. tube — a container
  7. field — farmland
  8. chip — for betting
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. file — a document
  11. roll — a cake
  12. row — to paddle
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. tube — the underground
  16. race — a contest
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a tool
  19. dip — to sink
  20. roll — a list
  21. row — a line
  22. field — for sport
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. row — a quarrel

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