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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. cue — a signal
  3. field — for sport
  4. race — humankind
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. capital — a city
  8. capital — money
  9. cue — a hint
  10. charge — electricity
  11. race — the arms race
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. bass — the fish
  14. field — farmland
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. cue — for pool
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. charge — a price
  21. race — a contest
  22. charge — in control
  23. field — a subject
  24. patient — a sick person

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