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

Word bank: nail · field · bear · cold · wake · rule · capital · pass

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — a subject
  5. pass — a permit
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. capital — money
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. rule — a law
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. wake — a trail
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. cold — not warm
  15. field — for sport
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. rule — government
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bear — the animal
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pass — to succeed
  24. rule — to rule out

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