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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: capital · snap · ball · wind · pitch · mark · degree · hand

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. ball — a great time
  3. snap — to click
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. pitch — completely
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. hand — in cards
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. mark — a trace
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. wind — moving air
  14. hand — help
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — from a university
  17. mark — a grade
  18. capital — a city
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. capital — money
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. wind — moving air
  23. degree — an amount
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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