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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. cue — a hint
  3. field — for sport
  4. capital — a city
  5. cue — for pool
  6. saw — the tool
  7. cell — in biology
  8. game — a match
  9. capital — money
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. field — farmland
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. cue — a signal
  16. saw — the tool
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. cell — a phone
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. field — a subject
  22. ground — crushed
  23. ground — a position
  24. ground — the earth

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