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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: board · spell · wound · bowl · shower · ground · capital · field

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. field — a subject
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. wound — an injury
  6. ground — a position
  7. field — for sport
  8. board — to get on
  9. ground — the earth
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. shower — to wash
  12. ground — crushed
  13. spell — magic
  14. capital — money
  15. shower — rain
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. capital — a city
  18. spell — a short time
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. field — farmland
  21. wound — an injury
  22. board — a committee
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. spell — letters

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