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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. present — there
  3. ground — crushed
  4. field — a subject
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a match
  7. ground — a position
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. race — humankind
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. race — the arms race
  13. stock — shares
  14. race — a contest
  15. present — a gift
  16. stock — goods
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. field — for sport
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. prune — to trim
  21. ground — the earth
  22. prune — to trim
  23. field — farmland
  24. stock — a soup base

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