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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.

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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: dip · pound · shower · lash · capital · field

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — for sport
  3. field — a subject
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. capital — money
  8. pound — a weight
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. shower — to wash
  12. capital — a city
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. shower — rain
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. dip — to sink

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