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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. cell — in biology
  3. cell — a phone
  4. bear — the animal
  5. capital — a city
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. capital — money
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. court — of a king
  11. field — for sport
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. court — for sport
  17. bear — the animal
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. pitch — completely
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. field — a subject
  22. wound — an injury
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. court — of law

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