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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 an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. field — a subject
  3. drill — a practice
  4. capital — a city
  5. drill — the tool
  6. file — a document
  7. march — the month
  8. field — for sport
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. court — for sport
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. file — a tool
  15. file — a line of people
  16. court — of a king
  17. march — music
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. march — the month
  20. drill — army training
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. field — farmland
  24. court — of law

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