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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. capital — a city
  3. present — a gift
  4. present — there
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — moving air
  7. capital — money
  8. sharp — clever
  9. field — farmland
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. perch — the fish
  12. present — the time now
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. cap — of ice
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — a subject
  21. cap — a hat
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. cap — a lid
  24. perch — for a bird

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