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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 116 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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. row — a line
  3. row — to paddle
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. chip — for betting
  8. stem — to come from
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. chip — to eat
  11. race — the arms race
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. mine — for digging
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. field — farmland
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. field — for sport
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. field — a subject
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. race — a contest

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