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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. object — a thing
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. race — the arms race
  5. field — farmland
  6. key — the most important part
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. object — to protest
  9. field — for sport
  10. field — a subject
  11. squash — the sport
  12. object — an aim
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — of water
  15. bat — the animal
  16. file — a line of people
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. key — for a lock
  19. race — humankind
  20. file — a tool
  21. squash — to crush
  22. race — a contest
  23. file — a document
  24. spring — a coil

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