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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. field — farmland
  3. swing — in golf
  4. spring — the season
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. field — a subject
  7. bound — obliged
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. swing — music
  10. fall — the season
  11. capital — a city
  12. spring — of water
  13. field — for sport
  14. capital — money
  15. spring — a coil
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. bound — certain
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. swing — to play on
  21. bound — tied together
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. fall — to drop
  24. bark — to shout

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