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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. content — the amount
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. field — a subject
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. field — farmland
  11. mine — for digging
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. press — to push
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. scale — in music
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. press — a publisher
  20. content — happy
  21. press — newspapers
  22. scale — size or range
  23. capital — money
  24. field — for sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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