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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. file — a line of people
  4. race — a contest
  5. wind — moving air
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. fall — the season
  8. fall — to drop
  9. file — a tool
  10. field — farmland
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. race — the arms race
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. fork — in a road
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. field — a subject
  19. file — a document
  20. wind — moving air
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. field — for sport
  24. fall — to drop

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