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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. rest — what's left
  3. rest — what's left
  4. field — farmland
  5. pound — a weight
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. shower — to wash
  8. court — of a king
  9. capital — a city
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. rest — a break
  14. field — for sport
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. capital — money
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. court — for sport
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. field — a subject
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. shower — rain

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