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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 116 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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. bass — low music
  3. spell — letters
  4. capital — money
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. season — in sport
  7. field — for sport
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. season — of the year
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. current — electric
  12. field — a subject
  13. spell — a short time
  14. row — a line
  15. field — farmland
  16. row — to paddle
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. current — happening now
  20. spell — magic
  21. bass — the fish
  22. current — of water
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. wave — with your hand

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