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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — money
  5. plane — a tool
  6. track — to keep track
  7. field — farmland
  8. rash — hasty
  9. kick — in football
  10. capital — a city
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. track — a path
  17. rash — a series
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — a subject
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. sharp — clever

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