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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. field — farmland
  3. race — the arms race
  4. rule — government
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. rule — a law
  7. current — electric
  8. wound — an injury
  9. race — humankind
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. field — for sport
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. wound — an injury
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. current — of water
  18. wind — moving air
  19. current — happening now
  20. race — a contest
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. field — a subject
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. stem — to come from

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