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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. field — a subject
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. drill — army training
  6. hand — in cards
  7. hand — help
  8. field — for sport
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. net — in sport
  11. drill — the tool
  12. cell — a phone
  13. net — after costs
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. field — farmland
  17. net — for catching
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. shower — rain
  20. race — a contest
  21. race — the arms race
  22. shower — to wash
  23. race — humankind
  24. drill — a practice

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