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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. field — farmland
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. capital — money
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. can — a tin
  8. field — a subject
  9. tear — to rip
  10. can — to be able to
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — the animal
  13. tear — from crying
  14. drill — the tool
  15. field — for sport
  16. rock — music
  17. tear — from crying
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. deal — to handle
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. can — a tin
  22. rock — a stone
  23. drill — army training
  24. drill — a practice

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