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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. capital — a city
  4. charge — a price
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. court — of law
  8. season — of the year
  9. cold — not warm
  10. field — a subject
  11. court — for sport
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. charge — in control
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. season — in sport
  17. cold — an illness
  18. court — of a king
  19. field — farmland
  20. charge — electricity
  21. wax — to grow
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. capital — money

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