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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. chip — to eat
  3. field — farmland
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. ball — a great time
  6. ball — a dance
  7. race — the arms race
  8. drill — a practice
  9. chip — for betting
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. field — for sport
  12. land — a country
  13. field — a subject
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. lean — to bend
  16. season — of the year
  17. land — to come down
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. race — humankind
  20. race — a contest
  21. land — ground
  22. drill — the tool
  23. season — in sport
  24. drill — army training

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