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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. capital — a city
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. court — of a king
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. firm — a company
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. cell — in biology
  9. firm — steady
  10. band — a music group
  11. court — of law
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. plane — a tool
  14. chip — for betting
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. field — a subject
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. firm — decided
  19. cell — a phone
  20. capital — money
  21. court — for sport
  22. field — farmland
  23. chip — to eat
  24. field — for sport

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