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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 116 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: pound · ground · hand · capital · net · pop · field · bank

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. field — a subject
  3. ground — crushed
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. bank — for money
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. hand — help
  8. capital — a city
  9. net — in sport
  10. ground — a position
  11. net — for catching
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. capital — money
  14. pound — a weight
  15. ground — the earth
  16. pop — music
  17. bank — for money
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. bank — of a river
  20. field — farmland
  21. hand — in cards
  22. field — for sport
  23. pop — to visit
  24. pop — soda

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