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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. field — farmland
  3. capital — money
  4. ground — crushed
  5. branch — a division
  6. field — for sport
  7. mark — a grade
  8. pop — music
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. ground — a position
  11. pop — to visit
  12. ground — the earth
  13. capital — a city
  14. field — a subject
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. pass — a permit
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. wound — an injury
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. wound — an injury
  22. mark — a trace
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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