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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 124 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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. saw — the tool
  3. field — farmland
  4. fork — in a road
  5. stock — shares
  6. field — for sport
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — not warm
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. capital — a city
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. stock — goods
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. field — a subject
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. vault — a safe
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. saw — the tool

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