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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: jam · plane · bat · rest · game · cabinet · capital · field

  1. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. field — a subject
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. rest — what's left
  6. capital — money
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. plane — a tool
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. game — wild animals
  11. bat — the animal
  12. game — a match
  13. rest — a break
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. field — for sport
  19. rest — what's left
  20. field — farmland
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. capital — a city

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