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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 120 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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. field — a subject
  3. club — a group
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. mug — a face
  6. cell — in biology
  7. club — for dancing
  8. saw — the tool
  9. club — for golf
  10. race — a contest
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. race — the arms race
  13. field — for sport
  14. mark — a grade
  15. cold — an illness
  16. saw — the tool
  17. mug — to rob
  18. cell — a phone
  19. mark — a trace
  20. cold — not warm
  21. mug — a cup
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. field — farmland
  24. race — humankind

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