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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  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. field — a subject
  2. current — electric
  3. capital — a city
  4. pit — a hole
  5. dip — to sink
  6. field — farmland
  7. capital — money
  8. pop — to visit
  9. current — of water
  10. pit — in a race
  11. pop — soda
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. current — happening now
  14. file — a document
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. file — a line of people
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. stem — to come from
  22. file — a tool
  23. pop — music
  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