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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 · nail · net · straw · wound · branch · race · chair

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a city
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. chair — a leader
  8. race — humankind
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. race — a contest
  11. branch — a division
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. net — in sport
  16. net — after costs
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. race — the arms race
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. wound — an injury

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