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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. rush — hurry
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. current — of water
  6. current — happening now
  7. capital — money
  8. perch — the fish
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. land — to come down
  12. rest — a break
  13. current — electric
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — a subject
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. rest — what's left
  18. land — a country
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. field — farmland
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. land — ground
  23. rest — what's left
  24. capital — a city

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