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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 · field · stand · clip · kid · charge · can · capital

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. charge — a price
  5. field — farmland
  6. can — a tin
  7. can — a tin
  8. field — for sport
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. stand — to bear
  12. clip — a video
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. capital — money
  15. can — to be able to
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. clip — to cut
  19. kid — to tease
  20. kid — child
  21. clip — for paper
  22. charge — in control
  23. capital — a city
  24. charge — electricity

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