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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. spring — a coil
  4. field — a subject
  5. mug — a cup
  6. spring — of water
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. spring — the season
  9. mug — a face
  10. present — the time now
  11. present — a gift
  12. wake — a trail
  13. capital — money
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. field — for sport
  17. fine — all right
  18. mug — to rob
  19. capital — a city
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. fine — high quality
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. field — farmland
  24. bat — the animal

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