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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. present — there
  3. last — final
  4. firm — a company
  5. stem — to come from
  6. field — farmland
  7. firm — steady
  8. last — finally
  9. present — the time now
  10. rest — a break
  11. firm — decided
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. capital — money
  14. field — a subject
  15. present — a gift
  16. rest — what's left
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. squash — the sport
  19. field — for sport
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. last — to go on
  22. squash — to crush
  23. capital — a city
  24. rest — what's left

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