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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — for sport
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. wind — moving air
  9. field — farmland
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. wind — moving air
  14. roll — a cake
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. mate — a partner
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. roll — a list
  20. mate — to breed
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. capital — money
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. mate — a friend

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