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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 carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. band — a music group
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. field — farmland
  8. cell — in biology
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. race — a contest
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. race — the arms race
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. cell — a phone
  19. field — for sport
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. capital — a city
  22. band — a ring
  23. race — humankind
  24. field — a subject

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