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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. capital — money
  5. capital — a city
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. net — in sport
  9. rush — hurry
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. rash — hasty
  14. net — for catching
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a music group
  18. rash — a series
  19. band — a ring
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — to tease
  24. pitcher — a jug

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