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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. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. fork — in a road
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. present — the time now
  5. key — for a lock
  6. present — a gift
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. pop — music
  9. field — farmland
  10. capital — a city
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. key — in music
  13. key — the most important part
  14. pop — soda
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. present — there
  19. pop — to visit
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — a subject
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. stem — to come from

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