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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's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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. field — a subject
  2. lean — thin
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. field — farmland
  5. season — of the year
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. capital — a city
  8. swing — music
  9. bound — certain
  10. cold — not warm
  11. season — in sport
  12. swing — in golf
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bound — tied together
  16. scale — in music
  17. lean — to bend
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. capital — money
  20. field — for sport
  21. swing — to play on
  22. scale — size or range
  23. cold — an illness
  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