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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cap · field · drill · court · present · capital · mine · row

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. field — for sport
  4. present — there
  5. present — the time now
  6. row — to paddle
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. field — a subject
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — money
  11. cap — of ice
  12. drill — army training
  13. field — farmland
  14. mine — for digging
  15. court — of a king
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. row — a line
  18. drill — a practice
  19. cap — a lid
  20. present — a gift
  21. cap — a hat
  22. drill — the tool
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. court — of law

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