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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. capital — a city
  5. wind — moving air
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. track — a path
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. bound — obliged
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. capital — money
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. bound — tied together
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. sharp — clever
  18. track — to keep track
  19. field — a subject
  20. bound — certain
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. field — farmland
  23. wind — moving air
  24. track — a song

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