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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. land — to come down
  3. spring — of water
  4. land — a country
  5. spring — the season
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. spring — a coil
  8. land — ground
  9. firm — a company
  10. shower — to wash
  11. race — a contest
  12. firm — decided
  13. race — the arms race
  14. firm — steady
  15. field — for sport
  16. shower — rain
  17. mark — a grade
  18. field — farmland
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. field — a subject
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. race — humankind
  24. mark — a trace

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