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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. field — a subject
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. stand — to bear
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. capital — money
  7. bass — low music
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. field — farmland
  10. can — to be able to
  11. file — a tool
  12. capital — a city
  13. file — a line of people
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. file — a document
  18. can — a tin
  19. kick — in football
  20. field — for sport
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. mine — for digging
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. can — a tin

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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