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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. swing — to play on
  3. swing — music
  4. last — finally
  5. fork — in a road
  6. spring — a coil
  7. game — wild animals
  8. swing — in golf
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. spring — the season
  12. race — the arms race
  13. race — a contest
  14. spring — of water
  15. chair — a leader
  16. field — for sport
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. field — farmland
  21. last — final
  22. race — humankind
  23. game — a match
  24. field — a subject

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