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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cap — of ice
  4. club — for golf
  5. field — a subject
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — for sport
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — moving air
  12. capital — a city
  13. spell — magic
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. cap — a hat
  16. spell — letters
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. spell — a short time
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. club — for dancing
  21. capital — money
  22. perch — the fish
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. club — a group

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