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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: bat · tube · swing · root · mine · field · race · snap

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. tube — a container
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. root — of a word
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. snap — to click
  7. race — a contest
  8. field — a subject
  9. swing — music
  10. tube — the underground
  11. race — humankind
  12. swing — in golf
  13. root — of a plant
  14. field — farmland
  15. root — the cause
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. race — the arms race
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. field — for sport
  21. mine — for digging
  22. bat — the animal
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. swing — to play on

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