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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. object — a thing
  3. prune — to trim
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. file — a line of people
  7. file — a tool
  8. race — humankind
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. file — a document
  11. prune — to trim
  12. object — an aim
  13. cold — not warm
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. field — a subject
  16. field — farmland
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. race — the arms race
  19. race — a contest
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. object — to protest
  22. cold — an illness
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. prune — the fruit

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