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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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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: wind · pound · ball · capital · band · pitch

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. ball — a great time
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. capital — a city
  5. pound — a weight
  6. pitch — completely
  7. capital — money
  8. wind — moving air
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. band — a ring
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. band — a music group
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. ball — a dance

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