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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. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. field — farmland
  3. club — for dancing
  4. present — the time now
  5. pitch — completely
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. race — humankind
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. club — a group
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. race — the arms race
  15. present — a gift
  16. cold — an illness
  17. present — there
  18. club — for golf
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. field — a subject
  22. roll — a cake
  23. field — for sport
  24. race — a contest

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