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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. cap — a lid
  3. race — humankind
  4. ground — crushed
  5. wax — to grow
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. swing — music
  8. swing — in golf
  9. charge — in control
  10. field — farmland
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. ground — the earth
  13. swing — to play on
  14. cap — a hat
  15. charge — electricity
  16. court — of a king
  17. charge — a price
  18. cap — of ice
  19. court — for sport
  20. field — a subject
  21. ground — a position
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — the arms race
  24. court — of law

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