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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 120 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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  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. field — farmland
  2. race — humankind
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. race — the arms race
  7. cold — not warm
  8. club — a group
  9. cell — in biology
  10. club — for dancing
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. foot — a measure
  13. field — for sport
  14. rush — hurry
  15. race — a contest
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. club — for golf
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. cell — a phone
  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