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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.

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: mug · wound · capital · field · bass · kick · tear · straw

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. capital — a city
  3. wound — an injury
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. mug — to rob
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. field — a subject
  10. kick — in football
  11. tear — from crying
  12. mug — a face
  13. tear — from crying
  14. field — for sport
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. bass — low music
  19. field — farmland
  20. tear — to rip
  21. mug — a cup
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — money
  24. straw — a straw man

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