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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. field — a subject
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. field — for sport
  6. last — finally
  7. race — humankind
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. race — the arms race
  10. field — farmland
  11. last — final
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. capital — money
  14. race — a contest
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. chip — to eat
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. snap — to click
  20. last — to go on
  21. capital — a city
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. chip — for betting
  24. racket — for tennis

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