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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. present — a gift
  3. hand — help
  4. field — a subject
  5. present — the time now
  6. hand — in cards
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. pound — a weight
  9. field — farmland
  10. capital — money
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. file — a tool
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. file — a line of people
  15. drill — a practice
  16. drill — army training
  17. capital — a city
  18. field — for sport
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. present — there
  22. file — a document
  23. drill — the tool
  24. capital — a big letter

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