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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 116 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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. bat — the animal
  3. race — the arms race
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. rash — hasty
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. field — farmland
  10. fork — in a road
  11. race — humankind
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. sharp — clever
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. rash — a series
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. field — a subject
  20. capital — money
  21. deal — to handle
  22. capital — a city
  23. field — for sport
  24. fork — a garden tool

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