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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  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. rash — hasty
  2. cell — a phone
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. scale — size or range
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. rash — a series
  8. field — a subject
  9. race — humankind
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. capital — a city
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. field — farmland
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. race — a contest
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. scale — in music
  21. pound — a weight
  22. field — for sport
  23. capital — money
  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