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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. cell — a phone
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. scale — in music
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — farmland
  8. race — humankind
  9. scale — size or range
  10. fork — in a road
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. snap — to click
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. cell — in biology
  19. sharp — clever
  20. field — for sport
  21. chip — for betting
  22. chip — to eat
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. race — the arms race

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