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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: craft · straw · capital · club · pitcher · field · rush · last

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. field — farmland
  3. last — finally
  4. club — for golf
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. club — for dancing
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. capital — a city
  9. capital — money
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. last — final
  13. last — to go on
  14. rush — hurry
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. club — a group
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. field — for sport
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. craft — a skill
  23. field — a subject
  24. craft — boats

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