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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  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. object — an aim
  2. snap — to click
  3. rule — a law
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. race — a contest
  6. race — the arms race
  7. scale — size or range
  8. club — for golf
  9. prune — to trim
  10. rule — government
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. club — a group
  13. race — humankind
  14. field — farmland
  15. object — a thing
  16. club — for dancing
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. object — to protest
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. scale — in music
  21. field — for sport
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. prune — to trim
  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