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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: fan · clip · field · capital · squash · tear · ball · tube

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. clip — a video
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. tube — the underground
  5. ball — a great time
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. tube — a container
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. tear — from crying
  10. capital — money
  11. squash — the sport
  12. capital — a city
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. tear — to rip
  15. field — for sport
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. clip — for paper
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. tear — from crying
  20. ball — a dance
  21. clip — to cut
  22. field — a subject
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. squash — to crush

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