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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 120 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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. pop — music
  4. rock — music
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. pop — soda
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. capital — money
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. pop — to visit
  14. field — for sport
  15. mine — for digging
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. rock — a stone
  18. field — a subject
  19. capital — a city
  20. fork — in a road
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. chip — for betting
  23. chip — to eat
  24. pitch — completely

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