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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. field — for sport
  4. capital — a city
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. current — happening now
  7. rest — what's left
  8. field — farmland
  9. season — in sport
  10. present — the time now
  11. fork — in a road
  12. hand — help
  13. rest — a break
  14. field — a subject
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. season — of the year
  17. rest — what's left
  18. hand — in cards
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. current — electric
  22. present — there
  23. current — of water
  24. present — a gift

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