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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: capital · land · season · spell · board · club · chair · field

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. chair — a leader
  3. capital — a city
  4. board — a committee
  5. land — ground
  6. land — to come down
  7. board — to get on
  8. club — a group
  9. club — for dancing
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. land — a country
  12. field — a subject
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. club — for golf
  15. spell — letters
  16. capital — money
  17. spell — a short time
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. season — of the year
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. field — for sport
  22. season — in sport
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. spell — magic

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