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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: pop · field · shower · capital · jam · net · saw · last

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. saw — the tool
  3. saw — the tool
  4. capital — a city
  5. field — a subject
  6. shower — to wash
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. last — finally
  9. net — for catching
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. last — final
  12. field — for sport
  13. net — in sport
  14. field — farmland
  15. capital — money
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. pop — music
  18. net — after costs
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. pop — soda
  21. last — to go on
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. pop — to visit
  24. shower — rain

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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