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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 116 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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  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. capital — a big letter
  2. field — a subject
  3. capital — money
  4. hand — help
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. wax — to grow
  7. hand — in cards
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. stand — to bear
  10. stock — goods
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. field — farmland
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. row — to paddle
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. capital — a city
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. row — a line
  22. stock — shares
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  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