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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. march — the month
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spell — letters
  5. field — for sport
  6. capital — a city
  7. ground — the earth
  8. ground — crushed
  9. march — the month
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. ground — a position
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. mark — a grade
  14. bound — obliged
  15. mark — a trace
  16. scale — size or range
  17. spell — magic
  18. scale — in music
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. march — music
  21. bound — certain
  22. bound — tied together
  23. capital — money
  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