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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. roll — a list
  4. date — the fruit
  5. field — a subject
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. object — an aim
  8. season — of the year
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. field — for sport
  11. object — to protest
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. capital — money
  14. object — a thing
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. field — farmland
  18. season — in sport
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. roll — a cake
  23. capital — a city
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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