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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. roll — a cake
  3. field — for sport
  4. row — to paddle
  5. field — farmland
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. fork — in a road
  8. row — a line
  9. bulb — for light
  10. bulb — for light
  11. ground — a position
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. field — a subject
  14. roll — a list
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. bass — the fish
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. ground — crushed
  21. capital — money
  22. ground — the earth
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. bass — low music

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