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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. drill — the tool
  3. field — farmland
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. capital — money
  7. cap — of ice
  8. ground — a position
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. drill — a practice
  11. cap — a lid
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. field — for sport
  15. ground — crushed
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. ground — the earth
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. capital — a city
  21. bat — the animal
  22. drill — army training
  23. field — a subject
  24. cap — a hat

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