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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  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. snap — to snap out of it
  2. rash — hasty
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. field — for sport
  5. race — humankind
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. race — a contest
  9. rash — a series
  10. kid — child
  11. field — a subject
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. land — ground
  14. land — a country
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. kid — to tease
  17. land — to come down
  18. snap — to click
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. branch — a division
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. field — farmland
  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