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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. last — final
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — money
  5. pop — to visit
  6. pop — music
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. field — a subject
  12. object — a thing
  13. object — an aim
  14. object — to protest
  15. field — farmland
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. press — to push
  18. press — newspapers
  19. last — finally
  20. pop — soda
  21. last — to go on
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. press — a publisher
  24. branch — a division

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