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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: fan · drill · capital · trunk · season · chip · club · field

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. field — a subject
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. club — for golf
  12. club — for dancing
  13. capital — a city
  14. club — a group
  15. season — of the year
  16. chip — for betting
  17. season — in sport
  18. drill — a practice
  19. chip — to eat
  20. field — farmland
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. capital — money
  23. field — for sport
  24. drill — the tool

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