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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. swing — in golf
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. wake — a trail
  5. field — for sport
  6. capital — a city
  7. swing — to play on
  8. cap — of ice
  9. cap — a hat
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. cap — a lid
  13. swing — music
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. field — farmland
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. capital — money
  18. field — a subject

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