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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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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 · field · stick · mate · capital · club

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — a subject
  3. wind — moving air
  4. mate — to breed
  5. mate — a friend
  6. club — for golf
  7. capital — money
  8. mate — a partner
  9. club — for dancing
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. field — for sport
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. club — a group
  15. wind — moving air
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. capital — a city
  18. stick — a piece of wood

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