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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. field — a subject
  4. current — happening now
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. lean — to bend
  7. current — electric
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. spring — of water
  10. lean — thin
  11. capital — a city
  12. capital — money
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. bat — the animal
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. field — farmland
  18. current — of water
  19. pound — a weight
  20. field — for sport
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. spring — the season
  24. pound — for dogs

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