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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: field · pop · capital · wake · cold · tear · chest · object

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. tear — to rip
  3. field — for sport
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. capital — money
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — a box
  8. pop — soda
  9. chest — of your body
  10. wake — a trail
  11. object — a thing
  12. tear — from crying
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. object — to protest
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. capital — a city
  18. pop — to visit
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. tear — from crying
  21. pop — music
  22. object — an aim
  23. cold — not warm
  24. field — farmland

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