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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. present — a gift
  6. present — the time now
  7. field — farmland
  8. present — there
  9. bulb — for light
  10. drill — army training
  11. sharp — clever
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. field — for sport
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. drill — a practice
  17. drill — the tool
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — a phone
  20. field — a subject
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. capital — money
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. bulb — for light

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