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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: capital · bulb · march · lie · bowl · shower · field · saw

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  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. field — a subject
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. lie — to recline
  4. bulb — for light
  5. field — farmland
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. field — for sport
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. march — music
  10. march — the month
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. bulb — for light
  13. capital — a city
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. saw — the tool
  19. shower — rain
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. shower — to wash
  22. saw — the tool
  23. march — the month
  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