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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. drill — army training
  4. capital — a city
  5. can — a tin
  6. game — wild animals
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. board — to get on
  9. can — to be able to
  10. field — for sport
  11. degree — temperature
  12. capital — money
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. board — a committee
  15. drill — the tool
  16. stem — to come from
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. field — a subject
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. drill — a practice
  21. degree — from a university
  22. can — a tin
  23. degree — an amount
  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