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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: capital · court · hide · net · bass · wave · wind · wound

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. court — for sport
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. capital — a city
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. wound — an injury
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. net — after costs
  17. court — of law
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. bass — low music
  20. capital — money
  21. net — in sport
  22. net — for catching
  23. bass — the fish
  24. bass — the instrument

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