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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. capital — a city
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. net — for catching
  6. spring — the season
  7. net — after costs
  8. field — for sport
  9. capital — money
  10. spring — of water
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. net — in sport
  21. field — farmland
  22. lie — to recline
  23. field — a subject
  24. toast — bread

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