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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 116 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 ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. kid — child
  3. current — electric
  4. field — a subject
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. file — a line of people
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. race — the arms race
  9. current — happening now
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — from crying
  12. file — a document
  13. tear — to rip
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. race — humankind
  17. current — of water
  18. field — farmland
  19. field — for sport
  20. kid — to tease
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. race — a contest
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. file — a 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