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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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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: wind · bark · stand · fall · ground · face · capital · field

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — a subject
  3. fall — to drop
  4. face — to confront
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. stand — to bear
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. capital — money
  9. wind — moving air
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. field — farmland
  12. fall — to drop
  13. face — to point toward
  14. face — part of the head
  15. fall — the season
  16. capital — a city
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. bark — to shout
  20. ground — a position
  21. wind — moving air
  22. ground — crushed
  23. ground — the earth
  24. bark — of a tree

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