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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. land — a country
  3. scale — size or range
  4. capital — money
  5. capital — a city
  6. prune — to trim
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. field — for sport
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. field — a subject
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. shower — rain
  14. land — to come down
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. scale — in music
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. land — ground
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. stand — to bear
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. prune — to trim
  23. field — farmland
  24. stand — for spectators

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