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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 newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. game — a match
  3. can — to be able to
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — farmland
  6. march — music
  7. march — the month
  8. can — a tin
  9. face — part of the head
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. capital — a city
  14. face — to point toward
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. can — a tin
  17. face — to confront
  18. march — the month
  19. foot — a measure
  20. capital — money
  21. game — wild animals
  22. wake — a trail
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. field — for sport

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