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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 · capital · kid · rush · club · land · hand · charge

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. kid — child
  3. capital — a city
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. hand — in cards
  8. land — a country
  9. kid — to tease
  10. club — a group
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. net — after costs
  13. charge — electricity
  14. club — for golf
  15. charge — a price
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — ground
  18. net — for catching
  19. capital — money
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. hand — help
  22. net — in sport
  23. charge — in control
  24. club — for dancing

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