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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: hand · craft · mate · capital · pitcher · wound · roll · dip

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — to breed
  8. hand — help
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. wound — an injury
  12. roll — a list
  13. dip — to sink
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. craft — a skill
  19. craft — boats
  20. capital — a city
  21. mate — a friend
  22. roll — a cake
  23. wound — an injury
  24. hand — in cards

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