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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. file — a line of people
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. swing — music
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. file — a tool
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. wound — an injury
  13. swing — to play on
  14. file — a document
  15. wound — an injury
  16. field — a subject
  17. squash — the sport
  18. race — the arms race
  19. field — for sport
  20. race — humankind
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. squash — to crush
  23. race — a contest
  24. swing — in golf

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