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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. rock — music
  3. field — for sport
  4. fine — high quality
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. file — a tool
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. fine — all right
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. last — final
  15. rock — a stone
  16. last — finally
  17. field — farmland
  18. file — a document
  19. capital — a city
  20. capital — money
  21. pitch — completely
  22. last — to go on
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. file — a line of people

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