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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 120 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: deal · wind · net · board · capital · race

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. net — after costs
  3. wind — moving air
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. wind — moving air
  7. net — for catching
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. race — humankind
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. board — a committee
  12. board — to get on
  13. race — the arms race
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. net — in sport
  16. deal — to handle
  17. capital — money
  18. race — a contest

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