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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. race — the arms race
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — for sport
  6. race — humankind
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — a box
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. race — a contest
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. can — a tin
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. cold — not warm
  21. can — to be able to
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. field — a subject
  24. can — a tin

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