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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. fine — high quality
  4. ground — a position
  5. chest — of your body
  6. band — a music group
  7. race — the arms race
  8. band — a ring
  9. field — for sport
  10. ground — the earth
  11. field — a subject
  12. chest — a box
  13. fine — all right
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. chair — a leader
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — humankind
  19. ground — crushed
  20. chest — of your body
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. mark — a trace
  23. mark — a grade
  24. band — a rubber band

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