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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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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: kid · wind · lean · pitch · land · capital · fall · craft

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. fall — to drop
  3. craft — a skill
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. fall — to drop
  6. wind — moving air
  7. craft — boats
  8. capital — a city
  9. land — ground
  10. capital — money
  11. lean — thin
  12. land — to come down
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. wind — moving air
  15. land — a country
  16. fall — the season
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. pitch — completely
  20. kid — to tease
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. lean — to bend
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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