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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. fall — the season
  3. field — for sport
  4. suit — in cards
  5. fall — to drop
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. capital — money
  8. degree — temperature
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. squash — to crush
  11. capital — a city
  12. fall — to drop
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. suit — to fit
  15. field — a subject
  16. mine — for digging
  17. suit — clothes
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. field — farmland
  20. degree — from a university
  21. degree — an amount
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. squash — the sport

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