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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. spring — of water
  3. kick — in football
  4. field — a subject
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — the tool
  7. field — farmland
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. spring — the season
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. field — for sport
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. stand — to bear
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. capital — a city
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — temperature
  21. degree — an amount
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. spring — a coil
  24. capital — money

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