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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: craft · fine · pitcher · clip · capital · squash · object · field

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. squash — to crush
  3. object — a thing
  4. fine — all right
  5. clip — for paper
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. craft — boats
  8. clip — to cut
  9. field — for sport
  10. squash — the sport
  11. clip — a video
  12. capital — money
  13. field — a subject
  14. object — an aim
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. craft — a skill
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. object — to protest
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. fine — high quality
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. capital — a city

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