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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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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: tear · straw · capital · wind · can · suit · fork · field

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. capital — a city
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. wind — moving air
  7. can — a tin
  8. can — a tin
  9. tear — from crying
  10. suit — clothes
  11. field — farmland
  12. can — to be able to
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. suit — in cards
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. suit — to fit
  17. wind — moving air
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. tear — to rip
  20. field — a subject
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. capital — money
  23. fork — in a road
  24. field — for sport

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