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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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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: pitch · capital · perch · fan · march · racket · wind · bass

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. perch — the fish
  10. capital — a city
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bass — low music
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. pitch — completely
  17. march — the month
  18. bass — the fish
  19. capital — money
  20. march — the month
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. march — music
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. racket — for tennis

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