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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 120 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 black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. object — to protest
  3. capital — a city
  4. fall — to drop
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — a subject
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bear — the animal
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. kid — to tease
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. fall — the season
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wind — moving air
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. object — an aim
  18. field — farmland
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. stand — to bear
  21. kid — child
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. capital — money
  24. object — a thing

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