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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. net — for catching
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. capital — money
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. bank — of a river
  8. bank — for money
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. spring — the season
  11. net — after costs
  12. current — of water
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — farmland
  16. current — electric
  17. current — happening now
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. bank — for money
  22. net — in sport
  23. band — a music group
  24. band — a ring

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