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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. charge — a price
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — a subject
  5. charge — electricity
  6. race — the arms race
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. bark — to shout
  9. field — for sport
  10. charge — in control
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. cell — a phone
  13. tear — to rip
  14. race — a contest
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. race — humankind
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cell — in biology
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. tear — from crying
  23. pass — a permit
  24. bark — of a tree

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