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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 president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. capital — money
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. field — a subject
  10. capital — a city
  11. net — in sport
  12. net — after costs
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. field — farmland
  17. kick — in football
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. squash — the sport
  21. field — for sport
  22. sharp — clever
  23. stand — to bear
  24. net — for catching

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