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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. fall — the season
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. capital — money
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — to drop
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. field — for sport
  10. field — farmland
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. rule — government
  13. bass — low music
  14. rule — a law
  15. capital — a city
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. bass — the fish
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. bat — the animal
  21. prune — to trim
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. field — a subject

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