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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. hand — in cards
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. saw — the tool
  5. race — humankind
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. field — farmland
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fork — in a road
  11. pitch — completely
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. fall — to drop
  14. field — a subject
  15. race — a contest
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. tear — from crying
  18. field — for sport
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. hand — help
  22. saw — the tool
  23. race — the arms race
  24. fork — a garden tool

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