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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. club — for golf
  5. field — a subject
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. press — a publisher
  8. field — for sport
  9. hand — help
  10. capital — a city
  11. press — newspapers
  12. perch — the fish
  13. club — for dancing
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. field — farmland
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. scale — size or range
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. scale — in music
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. press — to push
  22. hand — in cards
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. club — a group

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