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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 116 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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. field — for sport
  4. capital — a city
  5. spring — the season
  6. mine — for digging
  7. field — a subject
  8. content — the amount
  9. spring — a coil
  10. capital — money
  11. firm — a company
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. saw — the tool
  15. firm — steady
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. content — happy
  19. spring — of water
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. firm — decided
  22. saw — the tool
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. content — videos and posts

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