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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 refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. capital — a city
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. field — farmland
  5. game — wild animals
  6. season — of the year
  7. game — a match
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. field — for sport
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. season — in sport
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bear — the animal
  14. stand — to bear
  15. wound — an injury
  16. mug — to rob
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. mug — a face
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. field — a subject
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. capital — money
  24. wound — an injury

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