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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. rest — what's left
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. foot — a measure
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. field — a subject
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. rest — what's left
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. field — farmland
  18. capital — money
  19. wound — an injury
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. field — for sport
  22. rest — a break
  23. wound — an injury
  24. arm — part of the body

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