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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: field · snap · file · club · fall · capital · pitcher · cue

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. capital — money
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. fall — to drop
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — farmland
  7. club — for dancing
  8. capital — a city
  9. field — for sport
  10. file — a tool
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. cue — for pool
  14. club — a group
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. cue — a hint
  17. file — a line of people
  18. snap — to click
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. fall — the season
  21. fall — to drop
  22. file — a document
  23. club — for golf
  24. pitcher — a jug

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