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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 116 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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. present — the time now
  3. field — farmland
  4. present — there
  5. capital — a city
  6. pound — a weight
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. field — for sport
  9. kid — child
  10. field — a subject
  11. chip — to eat
  12. row — to paddle
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. row — a line
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. kid — to tease
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. present — a gift
  23. chip — for betting
  24. chip — in a computer

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