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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. field — a subject
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. mine — for digging
  5. capital — a city
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. field — farmland
  8. pit — in a race
  9. branch — a division
  10. pit — a hole
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. field — for sport
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. pound — a weight
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. race — humankind
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. race — a contest
  22. bark — to shout
  23. capital — money
  24. race — the arms race

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