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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. spring — a coil
  3. field — a subject
  4. tear — from crying
  5. charge — electricity
  6. charge — in control
  7. capital — money
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. field — for sport
  10. spring — the season
  11. chair — a leader
  12. field — farmland
  13. chest — of your body
  14. capital — a city
  15. charge — a price
  16. tear — to rip
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. chest — of your body
  19. season — of the year
  20. tear — from crying
  21. chest — a box
  22. spring — of water
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. chair — to sit on

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