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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — a subject
  3. capital — a city
  4. staff — employees
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. spell — magic
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. capital — money
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. object — a thing
  14. object — to protest
  15. object — an aim
  16. spell — a short time
  17. foot — a measure
  18. game — wild animals
  19. staff — a stick
  20. staff — employees
  21. game — a match
  22. spell — letters
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. field — farmland

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