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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. capital — a city
  3. toast — bread
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. capital — money
  6. staff — employees
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. rock — music
  9. field — for sport
  10. field — farmland
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. kid — to tease
  13. field — a subject
  14. spell — a short time
  15. spell — letters
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. spell — magic
  20. staff — a stick
  21. rock — a stone
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. wake — a trail
  24. kid — child

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