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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. present — there
  3. field — farmland
  4. chest — of your body
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. capital — money
  7. staff — employees
  8. tear — from crying
  9. mine — for digging
  10. chest — a box
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. present — a gift
  13. tear — from crying
  14. field — a subject
  15. chest — of your body
  16. staff — employees
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. field — for sport
  19. staff — a stick
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. foot — a measure
  22. capital — a city
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. tear — to rip

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