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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: club · ground · rest · swing · field · capital · pound · net

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. swing — to play on
  3. ground — crushed
  4. capital — a city
  5. rest — what's left
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. swing — music
  8. club — for golf
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. club — for dancing
  11. rest — what's left
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. field — farmland
  14. ground — a position
  15. swing — in golf
  16. pound — a weight
  17. net — after costs
  18. net — for catching
  19. rest — a break
  20. ground — the earth
  21. capital — money
  22. club — a group
  23. net — in sport
  24. field — for sport

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