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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  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. club — for dancing
  2. capital — a city
  3. board — a committee
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. tear — from crying
  8. field — farmland
  9. tear — from crying
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. rash — hasty
  14. tear — to rip
  15. rash — a series
  16. board — to get on
  17. field — a subject
  18. mine — for digging
  19. club — for golf
  20. club — a group
  21. capital — money
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. wave — of the sea
  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