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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. capital — a city
  3. rest — what's left
  4. row — a line
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. kick — in football
  7. row — to paddle
  8. chip — to eat
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. capital — money
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. field — a subject
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. fork — in a road
  15. field — farmland
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. chip — for betting
  18. field — for sport
  19. rest — what's left
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. pitcher — a jug

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