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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. race — humankind
  3. chair — a leader
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. present — there
  6. race — a contest
  7. kid — to tease
  8. file — a document
  9. lean — to bend
  10. lean — thin
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. field — a subject
  13. present — the time now
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. file — a tool
  16. field — farmland
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. race — the arms race
  21. present — a gift
  22. field — for sport
  23. kid — child
  24. file — a line of people

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