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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: mate · wound · fan · wind · cap · wake · capital · field

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. cap — a lid
  4. field — for sport
  5. mate — to breed
  6. wound — an injury
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. cap — a hat
  10. wind — moving air
  11. mate — a friend
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. mate — a partner
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wake — a trail
  16. wound — an injury
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. field — a subject
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. capital — a city
  21. cap — of ice
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. field — farmland
  24. capital — money

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