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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. root — of a plant
  4. squash — the sport
  5. field — farmland
  6. net — in sport
  7. fall — the season
  8. race — a contest
  9. root — the cause
  10. race — the arms race
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. fall — to drop
  13. root — of a word
  14. cell — a phone
  15. fall — to drop
  16. band — a ring
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cell — in biology
  19. net — after costs
  20. field — for sport
  21. net — for catching
  22. band — a music group
  23. squash — to crush
  24. race — humankind

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