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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. spell — letters
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. field — farmland
  5. race — a contest
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. field — a subject
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. race — humankind
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. spell — magic
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. spell — a short time
  18. field — for sport
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. race — the arms race
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. rash — hasty
  24. rash — a series

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