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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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  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. perch — for a bird
  2. tear — to rip
  3. hand — in cards
  4. field — farmland
  5. capital — a city
  6. court — of a king
  7. press — a publisher
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. tear — from crying
  10. perch — the fish
  11. press — newspapers
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. field — a subject
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. hand — help
  16. craft — boats
  17. craft — a skill
  18. press — to push
  19. court — of law
  20. court — for sport
  21. capital — money
  22. tear — from crying
  23. hand — part of the body
  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