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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 124 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: present · spell · wake · capital · board · degree · field · mine

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — a subject
  3. mine — for digging
  4. degree — from a university
  5. board — a committee
  6. field — for sport
  7. degree — an amount
  8. capital — money
  9. present — the time now
  10. capital — a city
  11. degree — temperature
  12. present — there
  13. spell — letters
  14. spell — magic
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. board — to get on
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. present — a gift
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. wake — a trail
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. spell — a short time

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