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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. bat — the animal
  5. march — the month
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. field — a subject
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. capital — money
  10. spring — a coil
  11. last — final
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. march — music
  14. capital — a city
  15. spring — the season
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. pound — a weight
  18. spring — of water
  19. last — to go on
  20. march — the month
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — for sport
  23. last — finally
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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