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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 120 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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. field — farmland
  4. court — for sport
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. race — the arms race
  9. field — for sport
  10. race — a contest
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. field — a subject
  13. court — of law
  14. hand — in cards
  15. court — of a king
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — to wash
  20. root — of a plant
  21. race — humankind
  22. hand — help
  23. root — the cause
  24. root — of a word

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