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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spring · snap · field · bear · coach · leaves · capital · band

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. capital — a city
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. spring — a coil
  5. field — farmland
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. field — a subject
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. bear — the animal
  11. snap — to click
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. band — a ring
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. spring — of water
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. spring — the season
  21. band — a music group
  22. capital — money
  23. bear — the animal
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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