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

Word bank: cold · field · race · plane · mark · chip · root · lie

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. chip — to eat
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. root — of a plant
  6. root — of a word
  7. cold — not warm
  8. chip — for betting
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. lie — to recline
  11. race — humankind
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. root — the cause
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. cold — an illness
  16. mark — a grade
  17. field — farmland
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. plane — a tool
  20. race — a contest
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — a subject
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. mark — a trace

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