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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 116 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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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: content · kick · pitch · capital · swing · land · nail · wind

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. swing — to play on
  6. wind — moving air
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. kick — in football
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. content — the amount
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. land — a country
  14. land — to come down
  15. wind — moving air
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. land — ground
  18. capital — a city
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. swing — in golf
  21. content — happy
  22. capital — money
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. pitch — completely

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