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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. rush — hurry
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. land — to come down
  6. field — a subject
  7. face — to point toward
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. land — ground
  11. field — for sport
  12. race — a contest
  13. field — farmland
  14. race — the arms race
  15. fine — all right
  16. fine — high quality
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. face — part of the head
  19. race — humankind
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. pitch — completely
  22. face — to confront
  23. land — a country
  24. rush — a thrill

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