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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. field — farmland
  3. wound — an injury
  4. lie — to recline
  5. rash — hasty
  6. race — a contest
  7. race — humankind
  8. field — for sport
  9. ball — a dance
  10. court — for sport
  11. court — of a king
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. court — of law
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. ball — a great time
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. race — the arms race
  20. rash — a series
  21. sharp — clever
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. wound — an injury
  24. field — a subject

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