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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. can — a tin
  3. field — a subject
  4. court — for sport
  5. lean — to bend
  6. court — of a king
  7. date — the fruit
  8. field — farmland
  9. field — for sport
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. court — of law
  12. rule — government
  13. can — to be able to
  14. bound — certain
  15. lean — thin
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bound — obliged
  18. bound — tied together
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. can — a tin
  22. capital — money
  23. capital — a city
  24. rule — a law

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