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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. pop — music
  3. race — a contest
  4. wind — moving air
  5. field — for sport
  6. rest — what's left
  7. field — a subject
  8. race — humankind
  9. rest — a break
  10. pop — to visit
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. rest — what's left
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wound — an injury
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. field — farmland
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. race — the arms race
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. pop — soda
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. kick — in football
  24. wind — moving air

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