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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 124 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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. cap — a lid
  3. present — there
  4. bank — for money
  5. field — farmland
  6. board — to get on
  7. race — humankind
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. bank — for money
  10. bank — of a river
  11. board — a committee
  12. date — the fruit
  13. file — a line of people
  14. race — a contest
  15. field — for sport
  16. cap — a hat
  17. file — a tool
  18. present — the time now
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. present — a gift
  21. race — the arms race
  22. file — a document
  23. cap — of ice
  24. date — on the calendar

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