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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wound · hide · racket · fan · capital · field · swing · row

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. swing — music
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. row — to paddle
  11. field — farmland
  12. swing — to play on
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a city
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. wound — an injury
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. swing — in golf
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. field — for sport
  23. row — a line
  24. field — a subject

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