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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 ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. field — for sport
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. wound — an injury
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. wound — an injury
  7. cap — a lid
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. roll — a cake
  10. cap — a hat
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. field — farmland
  13. cap — of ice
  14. firm — decided
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. firm — a company
  18. firm — steady
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — money
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. field — a subject
  24. roll — a list

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