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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. bulb — for light
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. file — a line of people
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. file — a tool
  11. file — a document
  12. field — a subject
  13. race — the arms race
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. race — humankind
  16. rush — hurry
  17. field — for sport
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. race — a contest
  21. field — farmland
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. bulb — for light
  24. capital — money

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