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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. capital — a city
  3. field — for sport
  4. rest — what's left
  5. track — a song
  6. capital — money
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. tear — from crying
  10. spring — the season
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — farmland
  13. tear — to rip
  14. rest — a break
  15. spring — a coil
  16. tear — from crying
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. drill — the tool
  19. rest — what's left
  20. track — a path
  21. track — to keep track
  22. drill — army training
  23. drill — a practice
  24. pitcher — a jug

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