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

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. ground — crushed
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. field — a subject
  5. prune — to trim
  6. capital — money
  7. field — farmland
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. capital — a city
  10. bulb — for light
  11. fine — all right
  12. ground — the earth
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. bulb — for light
  15. prune — to trim
  16. field — for sport
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. fine — high quality

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