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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. tube — the underground
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. race — humankind
  5. race — the arms race
  6. field — for sport
  7. field — farmland
  8. spring — the season
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. face — to confront
  13. spring — of water
  14. swing — in golf
  15. tube — a container
  16. swing — music
  17. field — a subject
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. spring — a coil
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. face — to point toward
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. face — part of the head
  24. race — a contest

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