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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chair · lean · rule · season · cap · field · race · spring

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. cap — a hat
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. field — for sport
  6. cap — a lid
  7. lean — thin
  8. rule — a law
  9. spring — a coil
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. race — the arms race
  12. field — a subject
  13. season — of the year
  14. season — in sport
  15. chair — a leader
  16. field — farmland
  17. rule — government
  18. spring — the season
  19. cap — of ice
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. spring — of water
  22. lean — to bend
  23. race — a contest
  24. lean — to rest against

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