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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 116 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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. field — farmland
  3. shower — rain
  4. capital — money
  5. spring — of water
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. spring — a coil
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. stock — goods
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. mark — a trace
  14. cap — of ice
  15. shower — to wash
  16. mark — a grade
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. cap — a lid
  19. cap — a hat
  20. field — for sport
  21. stock — shares
  22. spring — the season
  23. capital — a city
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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