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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. field — for sport
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. face — to point toward
  5. content — the amount
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. capital — a city
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. face — part of the head
  13. cold — not warm
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. face — to confront
  16. field — farmland
  17. track — a path
  18. board — to get on
  19. track — to keep track
  20. content — happy
  21. track — a song
  22. board — a committee
  23. cold — an illness
  24. field — a subject

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