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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. game — a match
  4. land — a country
  5. land — ground
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — for sport
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. clip — to cut
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. capital — a city
  12. land — to come down
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. field — farmland
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. clip — a video
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. game — wild animals
  19. swing — music
  20. fork — in a road
  21. capital — money
  22. swing — to play on
  23. clip — for paper
  24. capital — a big letter

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