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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · bound · spell · patient · club · snap · field · wound

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. spell — letters
  3. snap — to click
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. capital — money
  7. club — for golf
  8. bound — obliged
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. bound — certain
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. wound — an injury
  13. club — a group
  14. spell — a short time
  15. bound — tied together
  16. field — for sport
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. wound — an injury
  20. field — a subject
  21. club — for dancing
  22. capital — a city
  23. spell — magic
  24. field — farmland

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