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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. club — for golf
  5. suit — clothes
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. field — for sport
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. club — for dancing
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. stock — goods
  14. suit — to fit
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. suit — in cards
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. stock — shares
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — a subject
  23. club — a group
  24. capital — money

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