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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: wind · cell · capital · rock · rash · field

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. field — for sport
  4. cell — a phone
  5. capital — a city
  6. rock — music
  7. rash — a series
  8. rash — hasty
  9. field — farmland
  10. rock — a stone
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. field — a subject
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. capital — money
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. wind — moving air

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