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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 116 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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. kick — in football
  3. root — of a word
  4. race — humankind
  5. cell — a phone
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. field — farmland
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. cue — a signal
  10. cell — in biology
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — for sport
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. root — of a plant
  16. fork — in a road
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. race — the arms race
  20. race — a contest
  21. cue — for pool
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. root — the cause
  24. wax — to grow

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