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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 116 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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. field — farmland
  4. kick — in football
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. ground — crushed
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. lean — thin
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. ground — the earth
  14. ground — a position
  15. cap — a lid
  16. lean — to bend
  17. cap — a hat
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. shower — to wash
  20. shower — rain
  21. capital — a city
  22. cap — of ice
  23. field — for sport
  24. field — a subject

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