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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: mark · cold · capital · bore · field · straw

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. field — for sport
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. bore — to drill
  7. field — farmland
  8. bore — to tire
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mark — a grade
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. field — a subject
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. mark — a trace
  16. capital — money
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. capital — a city

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