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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 116 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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. race — the arms race
  3. field — for sport
  4. game — wild animals
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. hand — in cards
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. lean — to bend
  9. field — a subject
  10. kid — to tease
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. field — farmland
  13. hand — help
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. stand — to bear
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. kid — child
  18. mine — for digging
  19. lean — thin
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. race — humankind
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. game — a match

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