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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: fall · club · capital · game · coach · wind · pitcher · chest

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — the season
  3. chest — of your body
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. game — a match
  6. club — for golf
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. fall — to drop
  10. game — wild animals
  11. chest — of your body
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. club — for dancing
  17. capital — money
  18. wind — moving air
  19. club — a group
  20. chest — a box
  21. wind — moving air
  22. capital — a city
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. pitcher — a jug

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