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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. field — farmland
  3. rule — government
  4. lie — to recline
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. degree — from a university
  7. race — a contest
  8. field — a subject
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. field — for sport
  12. rule — a law
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. degree — an amount
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. race — humankind
  17. rock — a stone
  18. rock — music
  19. swing — music
  20. race — the arms race
  21. degree — temperature
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. swing — in golf
  24. mouse — for a computer

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