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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 120 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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. cue — a signal
  5. stand — to bear
  6. hand — in cards
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. capital — a city
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. hand — help
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — a subject
  13. capital — money
  14. pound — a weight
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. game — wild animals
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. cue — a hint
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. cue — for pool
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. game — a match
  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