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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. spring — of water
  3. spring — the season
  4. chair — a leader
  5. club — for dancing
  6. race — a contest
  7. net — for catching
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. race — the arms race
  10. field — for sport
  11. net — after costs
  12. race — humankind
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. bore — to tire
  15. spring — a coil
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. snap — to click
  18. club — for golf
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. club — a group
  21. net — in sport
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. field — farmland
  24. bore — to drill

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