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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  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. lash — to lash out
  2. field — a subject
  3. press — a publisher
  4. race — the arms race
  5. press — to push
  6. last — finally
  7. last — final
  8. cell — in biology
  9. club — for golf
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. cell — a phone
  12. club — a group
  13. race — humankind
  14. club — for dancing
  15. field — for sport
  16. last — to go on
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. field — farmland
  20. wax — to grow
  21. press — newspapers
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. cell — in a prison
  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