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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. chest — a box
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. race — a contest
  5. chest — of your body
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — a subject
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. wind — moving air
  10. snap — to click
  11. bat — the animal
  12. race — the arms race
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. pop — music
  15. race — humankind
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. pop — soda
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. wind — moving air
  21. field — for sport
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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