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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. race — humankind
  3. chest — a box
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. toast — bread
  9. race — the arms race
  10. hand — help
  11. fall — to drop
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. chest — of your body
  14. race — a contest
  15. fall — the season
  16. fall — to drop
  17. chest — of your body
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. dip — to sink
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. hand — in cards
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — farmland

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