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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. mug — to rob
  3. field — farmland
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. march — music
  6. march — the month
  7. mate — to breed
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. chest — of your body
  10. can — to be able to
  11. wind — moving air
  12. capital — a city
  13. field — a subject
  14. mate — a partner
  15. chest — of your body
  16. mug — a face
  17. chest — a box
  18. march — the month
  19. mate — a friend
  20. can — a tin
  21. can — a tin
  22. capital — money
  23. mug — a cup
  24. field — for sport

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