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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: capital · spell · deal · toast · drill · net · wound · pop

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. spell — letters
  3. drill — the tool
  4. pop — music
  5. spell — magic
  6. drill — army training
  7. wound — an injury
  8. pop — to visit
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. spell — a short time
  11. pop — soda
  12. deal — to handle
  13. capital — money
  14. net — for catching
  15. net — in sport
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. net — after costs
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. wound — an injury
  20. capital — a city
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. drill — a practice
  24. deal — a big deal

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