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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. field — farmland
  3. season — in sport
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. capital — a city
  9. kid — to tease
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. dip — to sink
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. season — of the year
  14. key — the most important part
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. key — for a lock
  17. key — in music
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. capital — money
  21. kid — child
  22. field — for sport
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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