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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 120 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 hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. rock — music
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. field — a subject
  6. swing — music
  7. mark — a grade
  8. field — farmland
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. capital — a city
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — of your body
  13. field — for sport
  14. wind — moving air
  15. rock — a stone
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. swing — to play on
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. swing — in golf
  22. chest — a box
  23. capital — money
  24. wind — moving air

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