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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. last — to go on
  3. field — for sport
  4. season — in sport
  5. season — of the year
  6. roll — a list
  7. roll — a cake
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. last — final
  10. saw — the tool
  11. race — the arms race
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mine — for digging
  15. saw — the tool
  16. last — finally
  17. field — a subject
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. race — humankind
  22. field — farmland
  23. race — a contest
  24. season — to add flavour

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