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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. season — of the year
  3. face — part of the head
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. field — a subject
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. field — for sport
  11. pit — a hole
  12. bear — the animal
  13. season — in sport
  14. wake — a trail
  15. pit — in a race
  16. file — a document
  17. face — to confront
  18. capital — money
  19. field — farmland
  20. face — to point toward
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. file — a line of people
  23. bear — the animal
  24. file — a tool

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