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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. race — humankind
  3. spell — a short time
  4. wax — to grow
  5. field — farmland
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. ground — a position
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. mate — to breed
  11. spell — letters
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. ground — crushed
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. field — for sport
  16. spell — magic
  17. ground — the earth
  18. race — a contest
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. plane — a tool
  21. mate — a friend
  22. capital — money
  23. mate — a partner
  24. field — a subject

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