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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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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 · wound · wake · bulb · ground · stand · field · wind

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. wound — an injury
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. field — a subject
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wake — a trail
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — money
  11. stand — to bear
  12. ground — the earth
  13. wind — moving air
  14. ground — a position
  15. bulb — for light
  16. field — for sport
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. field — farmland
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. ground — crushed
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. wound — an injury

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