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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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. band — a ring
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. perch — the fish
  5. field — a subject
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. capital — a city
  8. pit — in a race
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. sharp — clever
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. pit — a hole
  13. band — a music group
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. capital — money
  17. cold — an illness
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. cold — not warm
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. field — farmland
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. field — for sport

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