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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: rash · cap · content · fan · scale · bowl · wake · field

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. field — farmland
  3. field — for sport
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. field — a subject
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. content — happy
  9. content — the amount
  10. scale — size or range
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cap — a hat
  15. scale — in music
  16. rash — hasty
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. rash — a series
  21. wake — a trail
  22. cap — a lid
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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