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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 116 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: cap · mine · fall · fan · field · bound · land · perch

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cap — a lid
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. land — a country
  6. fall — the season
  7. bound — certain
  8. mine — for digging
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. fall — to drop
  11. cap — of ice
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. bound — tied together
  15. perch — the fish
  16. cap — a hat
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. field — a subject
  19. bound — obliged
  20. field — for sport
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. land — to come down
  23. fall — to drop
  24. field — farmland

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