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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  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. perch — for a bird
  2. race — humankind
  3. ground — a position
  4. mate — to breed
  5. fall — the season
  6. fall — to drop
  7. field — a subject
  8. ground — crushed
  9. shower — rain
  10. mate — a partner
  11. field — farmland
  12. perch — the fish
  13. mate — a friend
  14. field — for sport
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. ground — the earth
  17. craft — a skill
  18. fall — to drop
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. shower — to wash
  22. craft — boats
  23. race — the arms race
  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