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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. field — for sport
  3. bound — tied together
  4. march — the month
  5. capital — money
  6. cap — a lid
  7. march — the month
  8. bulb — for light
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. capital — a city
  11. bulb — for light
  12. cap — a hat
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. cap — of ice
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — a video
  18. field — farmland
  19. march — music
  20. bound — obliged
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bound — certain
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. deal — to handle

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