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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. ball — a dance
  3. capital — a city
  4. ball — a great time
  5. chip — for betting
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. field — for sport
  8. swing — in golf
  9. field — a subject
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. mate — to breed
  13. bass — the fish
  14. mate — a friend
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. bass — low music
  17. swing — music
  18. mate — a partner
  19. chip — to eat
  20. swing — to play on
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. capital — money

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