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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 120 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: field · bass · pit · ground · kid · rash · fine · capital

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. pit — in a race
  3. bass — the fish
  4. kid — to tease
  5. kid — child
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. ground — crushed
  8. field — farmland
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. ground — a position
  12. ground — the earth
  13. fine — all right
  14. rash — a series
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. pit — a hole
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. capital — money
  19. field — for sport
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. capital — a city
  22. field — a subject
  23. rash — hasty
  24. bass — low music

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