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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: snap · field · capital · key · spell · march · cold · pitcher

  1. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. field — a subject
  3. spell — a short time
  4. key — for a lock
  5. capital — a city
  6. cold — not warm
  7. snap — to click
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. spell — letters
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. field — for sport
  15. march — the month
  16. key — the most important part
  17. field — farmland
  18. march — the month
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. march — music
  21. capital — money
  22. spell — magic
  23. cold — an illness
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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