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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. field — a subject
  3. ball — a great time
  4. bark — to shout
  5. capital — a city
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. dip — to sink
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — of water
  10. capital — money
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. cap — of ice
  15. field — for sport
  16. ball — a dance
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. cap — a lid
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. field — farmland
  22. cap — a hat
  23. spring — a coil
  24. ball — a round shape

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