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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. current — of water
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. field — farmland
  5. bass — the fish
  6. capital — a city
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. ground — crushed
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. ground — the earth
  14. snap — to click
  15. current — electric
  16. branch — a division
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. bass — low music
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. ground — a position
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. current — happening now
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — for sport

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