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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 120 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: squash · rush · race · bark · spell · net · capital · chair

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. squash — to crush
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. rush — hurry
  7. squash — the sport
  8. net — in sport
  9. capital — money
  10. race — a contest
  11. race — humankind
  12. spell — letters
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. race — the arms race
  18. bark — to shout
  19. capital — a city
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. spell — a short time
  22. spell — magic
  23. chair — a leader
  24. net — after costs

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