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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. face — part of the head
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. suit — clothes
  8. game — wild animals
  9. game — a match
  10. degree — from a university
  11. mine — for digging
  12. suit — to fit
  13. suit — in cards
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. face — to confront
  16. degree — an amount
  17. field — farmland
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — a subject
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. capital — money
  23. face — to point toward
  24. degree — temperature

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