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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 · straw · wound · snap · field · capital · chair · perch

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. field — farmland
  5. perch — the fish
  6. field — a subject
  7. capital — a city
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. field — for sport
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. capital — money
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. wound — an injury
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. chair — a leader
  23. snap — to click
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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