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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. march — the month
  4. scale — in music
  5. field — farmland
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chair — a leader
  9. field — for sport
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. scale — size or range
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. race — humankind
  14. field — a subject
  15. cue — a signal
  16. kid — to tease
  17. cue — a hint
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. race — a contest
  20. mine — for digging
  21. cue — for pool
  22. kid — child
  23. march — music
  24. march — the month

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