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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 120 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: trunk · lash · field · capital · bound · wind · chair · cap

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. bound — obliged
  4. wind — moving air
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. bound — tied together
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — a subject
  13. capital — a city
  14. field — for sport
  15. cap — a hat
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. cap — a lid
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bound — certain
  23. chair — a leader
  24. cap — of ice

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