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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: pop · capital · bound · fan · field · branch · tear · cap

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. tear — to rip
  3. pop — music
  4. capital — a city
  5. field — farmland
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. tear — from crying
  9. capital — money
  10. pop — soda
  11. bound — obliged
  12. field — a subject
  13. cap — a lid
  14. bound — certain
  15. cap — a hat
  16. tear — from crying
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. bound — tied together
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. cap — of ice
  22. branch — a division
  23. field — for sport
  24. pop — to visit

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