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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. capital — money
  3. club — for golf
  4. field — for sport
  5. staff — employees
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. club — for dancing
  9. field — farmland
  10. staff — a stick
  11. land — a country
  12. capital — a city
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. row — a line
  15. row — to paddle
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. roll — a cake
  18. roll — a list
  19. field — a subject
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. club — a group
  22. staff — employees
  23. land — ground
  24. lash — an eyelash

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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