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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — a subject
  3. mark — a grade
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. ball — a great time
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. capital — a city
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. file — a line of people
  10. row — a line
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a document
  14. ball — a dance
  15. capital — money
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. mark — a trace
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. field — farmland
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. lie — to recline
  23. row — to paddle
  24. racket — a loud noise

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