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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 120 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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. field — farmland
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. rash — hasty
  7. key — for a lock
  8. rash — a series
  9. cap — a hat
  10. clip — a video
  11. race — the arms race
  12. clip — for paper
  13. bass — the fish
  14. race — a contest
  15. cap — a lid
  16. clip — to cut
  17. race — humankind
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. key — the most important part
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. bass — low music
  22. field — a subject
  23. key — in music
  24. field — for sport

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