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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 works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. row — a line
  3. field — farmland
  4. swing — music
  5. capital — a city
  6. row — to paddle
  7. present — a gift
  8. present — the time now
  9. firm — decided
  10. field — for sport
  11. rash — hasty
  12. squash — to crush
  13. firm — steady
  14. swing — in golf
  15. squash — the sport
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. swing — to play on
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. rash — a series
  22. field — a subject
  23. capital — money
  24. present — there

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