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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: mouse · straw · rest · field · capital · wind

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. field — for sport
  3. capital — money
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. capital — a city
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. rest — what's left
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. field — farmland
  14. wind — moving air
  15. field — a subject
  16. rest — a break
  17. rest — what's left
  18. straw — a straw man

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