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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 an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. perch — the fish
  3. race — the arms race
  4. mine — for digging
  5. hand — in cards
  6. can — to be able to
  7. court — for sport
  8. can — a tin
  9. can — a tin
  10. toast — bread
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. court — of a king
  15. hand — help
  16. race — humankind
  17. court — of law
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. race — a contest
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. field — farmland
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. field — for sport

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