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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: net · staff · foot · capital · pitch · bound · shower · spring

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. staff — a stick
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. bound — tied together
  6. capital — money
  7. pitch — completely
  8. net — after costs
  9. staff — employees
  10. capital — a city
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. spring — a coil
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. spring — the season
  16. staff — employees
  17. spring — of water
  18. bound — obliged
  19. net — in sport
  20. shower — rain
  21. shower — to wash
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. bound — certain
  24. foot — a measure

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