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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. race — humankind
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. field — a subject
  5. mug — a face
  6. saw — the tool
  7. race — a contest
  8. bark — to shout
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. mug — a cup
  12. field — for sport
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. field — farmland
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. wind — moving air
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. mug — to rob
  23. race — the arms race
  24. wind — moving air

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