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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: kid · pit · scale · racket · capital · wind

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. kid — child
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wind — moving air
  7. capital — a city
  8. scale — size or range
  9. scale — in music
  10. capital — money
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — to tease
  13. wind — moving air
  14. pit — a hole
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. pit — in a race
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. pit — a fruit stone

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