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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: wake · cap · bound · tube · fork · net · hand · capital

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bound — obliged
  3. tube — the underground
  4. hand — in cards
  5. cap — a hat
  6. cap — a lid
  7. cap — of ice
  8. net — after costs
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. bound — tied together
  14. net — in sport
  15. capital — a city
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. wake — a trail
  18. fork — in a road
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. tube — a container
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. net — for catching
  23. capital — money
  24. bound — certain

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