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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. field — farmland
  3. spring — a coil
  4. club — for dancing
  5. degree — temperature
  6. race — the arms race
  7. spring — of water
  8. degree — an amount
  9. club — for golf
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. chair — a leader
  12. mate — a friend
  13. mate — to breed
  14. race — a contest
  15. degree — from a university
  16. club — a group
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. spring — the season
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. field — for sport
  21. mate — a partner
  22. race — humankind
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. lash — to lash out

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