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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. capital — a city
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. wind — moving air
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — a subject
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. scale — in music
  9. game — wild animals
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. scale — size or range
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. last — finally
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. chair — a leader
  17. last — final
  18. capital — money
  19. last — to go on
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. game — a match
  23. field — farmland
  24. wind — moving air

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