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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. fine — all right
  3. field — farmland
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. field — for sport
  6. fine — high quality
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. hand — help
  9. mate — a partner
  10. hand — in cards
  11. wind — moving air
  12. race — the arms race
  13. field — a subject
  14. rule — a law
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. root — of a word
  17. wind — moving air
  18. race — a contest
  19. mate — to breed
  20. rule — government
  21. race — humankind
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. root — of a plant
  24. root — the cause

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