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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: dip · field · craft · capital · mine · wake · fan · clip

  1. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. field — farmland
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. mine — for digging
  8. field — for sport
  9. craft — a skill
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. craft — boats
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. wake — a trail
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. clip — a video
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — to cut
  21. capital — money
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. field — a subject
  24. capital — a city

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