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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. march — the month
  3. field — farmland
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. field — for sport
  6. rule — a law
  7. kid — child
  8. march — music
  9. race — humankind
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. race — the arms race
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bore — to drill
  15. race — a contest
  16. net — for catching
  17. bear — the animal
  18. bore — to tire
  19. net — in sport
  20. rule — government
  21. net — after costs
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. march — the month
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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