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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. hand — help
  3. squash — the sport
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. squash — to crush
  6. cap — a hat
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. capital — money
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. cap — of ice
  11. net — after costs
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. capital — a city
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cell — in biology
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cap — a lid
  19. hand — in cards
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. net — for catching
  23. vault — a safe
  24. net — in sport

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