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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. mate — a partner
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. race — humankind
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. hand — help
  8. race — a contest
  9. rule — government
  10. field — for sport
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. field — farmland
  13. rule — a law
  14. pound — a weight
  15. tube — a container
  16. field — a subject
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. tube — the underground
  19. mate — to breed
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. stock — shares
  22. stock — goods
  23. mate — a friend
  24. race — the arms race

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