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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 120 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 · game · wind · shower · foot · net · hand · rash

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. capital — money
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. net — in sport
  6. rash — a series
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. capital — a city
  10. net — after costs
  11. hand — in cards
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. shower — rain
  14. wind — moving air
  15. rash — hasty
  16. net — for catching
  17. shower — to wash
  18. foot — a measure
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. wind — moving air
  21. game — a match
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. hand — help
  24. game — wild animals

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