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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 · pound · land · present · can · net · hand · race

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. net — after costs
  4. land — to come down
  5. hand — in cards
  6. can — a tin
  7. land — a country
  8. race — humankind
  9. present — the time now
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. can — to be able to
  14. pound — a weight
  15. net — in sport
  16. present — a gift
  17. net — for catching
  18. can — a tin
  19. hand — help
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. land — ground
  22. race — the arms race
  23. race — a contest
  24. present — there

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