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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. field — a subject
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. race — humankind
  6. squash — to crush
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. field — for sport
  12. pitch — completely
  13. field — farmland
  14. race — a contest
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. mine — for digging
  17. bore — to drill
  18. race — the arms race
  19. squash — the sport
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. wake — a trail

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