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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — farmland
  3. race — a contest
  4. field — a subject
  5. rule — a law
  6. bear — the animal
  7. content — happy
  8. rule — government
  9. cell — in biology
  10. race — humankind
  11. cell — a phone
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. content — the amount
  17. face — part of the head
  18. bear — the animal
  19. race — the arms race
  20. snap — to click
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. face — to confront
  24. face — to point toward

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