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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 120 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. field — for sport
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — for paper
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. suit — clothes
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. ground — crushed
  16. field — farmland
  17. ground — the earth
  18. stem — to come from
  19. suit — to fit
  20. ground — a position
  21. clip — to cut
  22. suit — in cards
  23. capital — money
  24. field — a subject

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