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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. bore — to drill
  3. pound — a weight
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. field — farmland
  6. race — the arms race
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. field — for sport
  10. bat — the animal
  11. race — humankind
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. field — a subject
  14. race — a contest
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. last — finally
  20. last — to go on
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. capital — money
  23. capital — a city
  24. last — final

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