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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: file · fan · capital · sharp · field · bound · arm · ground

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. ground — crushed
  7. capital — a city
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. file — a tool
  10. field — for sport
  11. bound — tied together
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. bound — obliged
  15. field — a subject
  16. ground — a position
  17. file — a line of people
  18. bound — certain
  19. capital — money
  20. ground — the earth
  21. sharp — clever
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. field — farmland
  24. file — a document

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