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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.

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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: lie · capital · bore · track · shower · game · can · wind

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. capital — a city
  3. wind — moving air
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a match
  7. wind — moving air
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. can — a tin
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. bore — to tire
  12. shower — to wash
  13. shower — rain
  14. lie — to recline
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. can — to be able to
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. track — a path
  19. bore — to drill
  20. capital — money
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. track — a song
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. track — to keep track

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