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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: mark · pop · hand · squash · capital · cap · wind · net

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. cap — a lid
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. mark — a grade
  5. capital — a city
  6. pop — soda
  7. net — after costs
  8. pop — to visit
  9. squash — the sport
  10. pop — music
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. hand — in cards
  13. cap — of ice
  14. mark — a trace
  15. cap — a hat
  16. hand — help
  17. squash — to crush
  18. wind — moving air
  19. net — for catching
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. wind — moving air
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. capital — money

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