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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  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 — a subject
  2. content — the amount
  3. race — the arms race
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. branch — a division
  6. track — to keep track
  7. chest — of your body
  8. track — a song
  9. rule — a law
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. content — happy
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. field — farmland
  15. rule — government
  16. track — a path
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chest — a box
  21. stand — to bear
  22. race — a contest
  23. field — for sport
  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