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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. capital — a city
  3. field — farmland
  4. game — wild animals
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. pitch — completely
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. bear — the animal
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. bear — the animal
  12. field — a subject
  13. capital — money
  14. field — for sport
  15. game — a match
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. hide — animal skin

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