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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: shower · capital · cap · wind · row · fine · pitcher · racket

  1. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. capital — money
  3. shower — to wash
  4. wind — moving air
  5. capital — a city
  6. shower — rain
  7. wind — moving air
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. cap — of ice
  10. fine — high quality
  11. fine — all right
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. row — to paddle
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. cap — a lid
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. row — a line
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. cap — a hat

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