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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: plane · wound · deal · bear · spring · capital · tube · field

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. field — for sport
  5. spring — the season
  6. spring — a coil
  7. plane — a tool
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. tube — a container
  10. bear — the animal
  11. wound — an injury
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. tube — the underground
  15. bear — the animal
  16. spring — of water
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. capital — a city
  19. wound — an injury
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. field — a subject
  22. deal — to handle
  23. capital — money
  24. tube — in a tire

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