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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. field — farmland
  3. fine — all right
  4. scale — in music
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. kid — to tease
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. scale — size or range
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. bear — the animal
  13. kid — child
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — a subject
  16. capital — a city
  17. season — in sport
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. bear — the animal
  20. fine — high quality
  21. capital — money
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. cabinet — ministers

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