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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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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. cap — a lid
  5. present — there
  6. field — a subject
  7. court — of a king
  8. present — the time now
  9. drill — the tool
  10. present — a gift
  11. drill — a practice
  12. capital — a city
  13. cap — of ice
  14. court — for sport
  15. cap — a hat
  16. field — for sport
  17. court — of law
  18. drill — army training

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