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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: wound · suit · capital · clip · present · field

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. clip — to cut
  3. present — there
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. capital — money
  6. suit — in cards
  7. wound — an injury
  8. present — a gift
  9. present — the time now
  10. clip — a video
  11. suit — to fit
  12. clip — for paper
  13. capital — a city
  14. wound — an injury
  15. suit — clothes
  16. field — for sport
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. field — farmland

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