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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. field — a subject
  3. capital — a city
  4. field — for sport
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. bass — low music
  7. fine — all right
  8. fork — in a road
  9. field — farmland
  10. spell — magic
  11. vault — a safe
  12. spell — letters
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. shower — to wash
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. fine — high quality
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. bass — the fish
  21. capital — money
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. spell — a short time

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