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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. race — the arms race
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. game — a match
  8. field — a subject
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. bark — to shout
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. field — farmland
  13. drill — the tool
  14. drill — army training
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. race — humankind
  17. race — a contest
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. rush — hurry
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. field — for sport
  24. drill — a practice

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