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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. field — a subject
  3. march — the month
  4. march — the month
  5. firm — decided
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. capital — money
  8. firm — steady
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. date — the fruit
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. mine — for digging
  13. firm — a company
  14. capital — a city
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. field — farmland
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. march — music
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. rush — hurry
  24. field — for sport

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