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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: court · spring · rush · hand · row · capital · pitch · nail

  1. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — money
  5. spring — of water
  6. capital — a city
  7. court — for sport
  8. court — of a king
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. hand — in cards
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. hand — help
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. court — of law
  15. spring — the season
  16. rush — hurry
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. pitch — completely
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. row — a line
  23. spring — a coil
  24. row — to paddle

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