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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. drill — a practice
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. press — a publisher
  8. press — to push
  9. capital — a city
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. field — a subject
  12. press — newspapers
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. bat — the animal
  15. drill — army training
  16. field — for sport
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. kick — in football
  21. drill — the tool
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. capital — money
  24. field — farmland

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