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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. charge — a price
  4. field — farmland
  5. capital — a city
  6. march — the month
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. cold — not warm
  10. field — for sport
  11. charge — electricity
  12. march — music
  13. bulb — for light
  14. capital — money
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. plane — a tool
  17. bulb — for light
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. field — a subject
  20. snap — to click
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. march — the month
  23. cold — an illness
  24. charge — in control

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