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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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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: shower · pitch · wind · fall · cabinet · capital

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. pitch — completely
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. capital — a city
  5. fall — to drop
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. fall — the season
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. shower — rain
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. fall — to drop
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. capital — money
  18. shower — to wash

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