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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 124 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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. club — for dancing
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. bass — low music
  5. suit — to fit
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. file — a line of people
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. club — for golf
  11. suit — clothes
  12. file — a document
  13. field — a subject
  14. bass — the fish
  15. file — a tool
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. club — a group
  19. field — farmland
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. suit — in cards
  23. capital — money
  24. capital — a city

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