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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. field — for sport
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. race — a contest
  7. pitch — completely
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. race — humankind
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — farmland
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. ground — the earth
  15. ground — a position
  16. wound — an injury
  17. club — for golf
  18. wound — an injury
  19. cold — not warm
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. club — a group
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. ground — crushed
  24. club — for dancing

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