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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 room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. pitch — completely
  3. rock — a stone
  4. field — a subject
  5. swing — to play on
  6. shower — rain
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. spell — letters
  9. spell — magic
  10. swing — music
  11. rock — music
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. pop — to visit
  15. pop — soda
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. swing — in golf
  19. capital — money
  20. capital — a city
  21. shower — to wash
  22. spell — a short time
  23. pop — music
  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