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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. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. race — a contest
  4. fall — to drop
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. field — a subject
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. bass — the fish
  10. cue — a hint
  11. date — the fruit
  12. field — for sport
  13. capital — a city
  14. capital — money
  15. bass — low music
  16. chest — a box
  17. race — humankind
  18. chest — of your body
  19. fall — to drop
  20. race — the arms race
  21. field — farmland
  22. cue — a signal
  23. chest — of your body
  24. fall — the season

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