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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: rest · row · capital · date · bat · fall · suit · field

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. rest — a break
  3. suit — in cards
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. capital — money
  6. bat — the animal
  7. row — to paddle
  8. date — the fruit
  9. rest — what's left
  10. fall — the season
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — farmland
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. fall — to drop
  16. suit — to fit
  17. suit — clothes
  18. capital — a city
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. fall — to drop
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. row — a line
  23. rest — what's left
  24. date — on the calendar

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