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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. field — a subject
  3. net — in sport
  4. net — after costs
  5. bear — the animal
  6. field — for sport
  7. cap — a hat
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. cap — a lid
  10. net — for catching
  11. cap — of ice
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. pop — soda
  14. fall — the season
  15. capital — a city
  16. pop — music
  17. pop — to visit
  18. mine — for digging
  19. fall — to drop
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. bear — the animal
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. fall — to drop
  24. field — farmland

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