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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: foot · capital · plane · present · file · hand · degree · field

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. hand — help
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. file — a tool
  7. field — for sport
  8. hand — in cards
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. file — a document
  12. degree — from a university
  13. capital — a city
  14. plane — a tool
  15. foot — a measure
  16. degree — temperature
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. field — farmland
  19. capital — money
  20. degree — an amount
  21. present — there
  22. present — a gift
  23. file — a line of people
  24. present — the time now

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