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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. capital — money
  3. band — a music group
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. bark — to shout
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. race — humankind
  10. present — the time now
  11. band — a ring
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. rush — hurry
  14. capital — a city
  15. present — there
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. race — a contest
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. field — a subject
  22. present — a gift
  23. field — for sport
  24. race — the arms race

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