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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. swing — in golf
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. rush — hurry
  5. rock — a stone
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. swing — to play on
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. field — a subject
  10. cold — an illness
  11. capital — a city
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. band — a music group
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rock — music
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. swing — music
  18. field — farmland
  19. capital — money
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. band — a ring
  23. cold — not warm
  24. ruler — for measuring

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