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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: capital · wake · bass · clip · kick · land · wind · racket

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. capital — money
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. kick — in football
  5. land — to come down
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. bass — the fish
  14. bass — low music
  15. land — a country
  16. land — ground
  17. wake — a trail
  18. wind — moving air
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. capital — a city
  23. clip — a video
  24. racket — a loud noise

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