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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: land · bay · fork · shower · coach · wind · hand · capital

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. wind — moving air
  6. land — to come down
  7. wind — moving air
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. land — a country
  11. hand — in cards
  12. fork — in a road
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. shower — rain
  15. hand — help
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. capital — money
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. land — ground
  22. shower — to wash
  23. capital — a city
  24. coach — a trainer

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