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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 ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. field — a subject
  3. charge — a price
  4. bass — low music
  5. bass — the fish
  6. land — ground
  7. land — a country
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. race — humankind
  11. charge — in control
  12. race — a contest
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. bat — the animal
  16. field — for sport
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. charge — electricity
  20. land — to come down
  21. field — farmland
  22. race — the arms race
  23. rest — a break
  24. rest — what's left

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