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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. race — humankind
  7. chip — to eat
  8. spring — a coil
  9. race — the arms race
  10. chip — for betting
  11. field — for sport
  12. spring — the season
  13. race — a contest
  14. field — farmland
  15. row — to paddle
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. field — a subject
  19. spring — of water
  20. craft — a skill
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. craft — boats
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. wake — a trail

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