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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. cap — a lid
  3. cell — a phone
  4. field — farmland
  5. rule — government
  6. board — a committee
  7. cap — a hat
  8. content — the amount
  9. wind — moving air
  10. race — the arms race
  11. field — a subject
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. content — happy
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. race — a contest
  17. cap — of ice
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cell — in biology
  20. rule — a law
  21. board — to get on
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. race — humankind

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