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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. present — a gift
  3. rest — what's left
  4. field — for sport
  5. rest — a break
  6. file — a document
  7. file — a line of people
  8. race — a contest
  9. present — the time now
  10. cue — for pool
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rest — what's left
  14. present — there
  15. cue — a hint
  16. field — farmland
  17. race — humankind
  18. field — a subject
  19. file — a tool
  20. pop — music
  21. race — the arms race
  22. pop — to visit
  23. cue — a signal
  24. cold — an illness

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