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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. capital — money
  5. game — wild animals
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. net — in sport
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. wake — a trail
  11. net — for catching
  12. game — a match
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. field — farmland
  16. capital — a city
  17. band — a ring
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. net — after costs
  20. band — a music group
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. pound — a weight
  23. field — a subject
  24. band — a rubber band

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