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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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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: field · spring · mark · racket · capital · shower · fork · foot

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. shower — to wash
  4. shower — rain
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. capital — money
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. mark — a trace
  10. foot — a measure
  11. spring — of water
  12. field — for sport
  13. spring — a coil
  14. mark — a grade
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. field — a subject
  17. fork — in a road
  18. spring — the season
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. field — farmland
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. racket — for tennis

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