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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.

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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. hand — help
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. kid — to tease
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — moving air
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. craft — boats
  11. craft — a skill
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. bat — the animal
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. safe — a strongbox
  19. kid — child
  20. hand — in cards
  21. capital — money
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. mouse — the animal

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