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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. present — a gift
  3. dip — to sink
  4. tube — a container
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. capital — a city
  7. present — there
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. ground — crushed
  10. kid — to tease
  11. ground — the earth
  12. snap — to click
  13. ground — a position
  14. field — for sport
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. field — a subject
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. present — the time now
  21. kid — child
  22. tube — the underground
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. field — farmland

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