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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. race — the arms race
  3. race — humankind
  4. tear — from crying
  5. stand — to bear
  6. tear — to rip
  7. wound — an injury
  8. current — happening now
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. current — electric
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. capital — a city
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. capital — money
  17. band — a ring
  18. field — a subject
  19. band — a music group
  20. field — farmland
  21. tear — from crying
  22. race — a contest
  23. wound — an injury
  24. current — of water

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