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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. race — humankind
  3. game — wild animals
  4. rash — a series
  5. field — a subject
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. field — farmland
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. race — a contest
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. race — the arms race
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. rash — hasty
  23. pitch — completely
  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