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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  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. game — wild animals
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. game — a match
  7. field — a subject
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. bore — to drill
  10. field — farmland
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. bore — to tire
  13. perch — the fish
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. field — for sport
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. dip — to sink
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  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