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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · squash · row · net · land · kick · spring · pitch

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a city
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. row — a line
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. net — after costs
  8. kick — in football
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. squash — the sport
  11. land — ground
  12. net — for catching
  13. land — to come down
  14. pitch — completely
  15. squash — to crush
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. spring — a coil
  19. land — a country
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. row — to paddle
  22. spring — of water
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. spring — the season

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