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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. wake — a trail
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — for sport
  5. land — ground
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. land — a country
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. squash — the sport
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. tear — to rip
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. tear — from crying
  20. land — to come down
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. field — farmland
  23. squash — to crush
  24. tear — from crying

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