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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
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: field · pit · mate · tube · spring · mine · capital · squash

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. spring — the season
  3. capital — a city
  4. squash — the sport
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. mate — a friend
  7. mate — a partner
  8. field — farmland
  9. mate — to breed
  10. pit — a hole
  11. mine — for digging
  12. spring — a coil
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. squash — to crush
  15. field — for sport
  16. pit — in a race
  17. tube — a container
  18. tube — the underground
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. spring — of water
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. capital — money
  23. field — a subject
  24. mine — an explosive

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