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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.

Make a worksheet

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: ground · scale · field · capital · chair · pitcher · cold · racket

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. capital — money
  4. scale — size or range
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. ground — a position
  8. field — a subject
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. chair — a leader
  11. field — for sport
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. cold — an illness
  14. ground — crushed
  15. cold — not warm
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. scale — in music
  18. ground — the earth
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. field — farmland
  23. capital — a city
  24. cold — the Cold War

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