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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. file — a document
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — for sport
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. capital — money
  13. dip — to sink
  14. wind — moving air
  15. field — farmland
  16. rash — a series
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. squash — the sport
  19. file — a line of people
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. file — a tool
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. wind — moving air
  24. squash — to crush

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