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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. field — farmland
  3. race — the arms race
  4. game — wild animals
  5. race — humankind
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. field — for sport
  9. row — to paddle
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. court — for sport
  12. mug — to rob
  13. race — a contest
  14. row — a line
  15. game — a match
  16. court — of a king
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. snap — to click
  19. field — a subject
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. mug — a face
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. court — of law
  24. mug — a cup

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