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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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. ball — a great time
  3. rock — music
  4. ball — a dance
  5. ground — the earth
  6. field — farmland
  7. ground — crushed
  8. capital — money
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. rock — a stone
  12. lie — to recline
  13. ground — a position
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. rash — a series
  17. branch — a division
  18. field — a subject
  19. capital — a city
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. rash — hasty
  22. field — for sport
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. lie — an untruth

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