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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: capital · club · field · fall · tear · plane

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — from crying
  4. club — for dancing
  5. capital — money
  6. club — for golf
  7. tear — to rip
  8. fall — to drop
  9. field — farmland
  10. plane — a tool
  11. field — for sport
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — the season
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — a city
  17. club — a group
  18. plane — an aircraft

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