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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: field · club · deal · trunk · cold · spring · capital · wave

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. club — a group
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. field — a subject
  6. cold — not warm
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. field — farmland
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. club — for golf
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. capital — a city
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — an illness
  15. club — for dancing
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. deal — to handle
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — the season
  23. capital — money
  24. spring — of water

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