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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 116 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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. scale — in music
  4. key — the most important part
  5. stand — to bear
  6. key — for a lock
  7. field — a subject
  8. clip — for paper
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — money
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. scale — size or range
  13. field — farmland
  14. key — in music
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — a video
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. stand — on your feet

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