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

Word bank: snap · wound · bore · net · perch · wind · capital · straw

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. wound — an injury
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. bore — to tire
  8. net — in sport
  9. net — for catching
  10. capital — a city
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. wind — moving air
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. perch — the fish
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. wound — an injury
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. snap — to click
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. net — after costs
  23. bore — to drill
  24. capital — money

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