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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: hand · mate · sharp · capital · calf · bass · shower · pitch

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. mate — to breed
  4. capital — a city
  5. mate — a friend
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. capital — money
  9. hand — in cards
  10. pitch — completely
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. mate — a partner
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. shower — rain
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. bass — low music
  18. shower — to wash
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. sharp — clever
  21. bass — the fish
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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