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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: squash · racket · roll · capital · craft · band · game · net

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. roll — a list
  5. band — a music group
  6. net — after costs
  7. craft — boats
  8. squash — the sport
  9. roll — a cake
  10. net — for catching
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. squash — to crush
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. net — in sport
  15. craft — a skill
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. band — a ring
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. capital — a city
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. capital — money
  23. game — wild animals
  24. roll — on a roll

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