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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. race — the arms race
  4. field — a subject
  5. ball — a dance
  6. toast — bread
  7. spring — a coil
  8. pit — in a race
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. field — for sport
  11. race — humankind
  12. chest — a box
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. field — farmland
  15. spring — the season
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. spring — of water
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. chest — of your body
  21. pit — a hole
  22. race — a contest
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. chest — of your body

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