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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 · racket · scale · snap · capital · band · ground · pitcher

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. capital — a city
  4. hand — help
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. capital — money
  7. snap — to click
  8. band — a music group
  9. band — a ring
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. hand — in cards
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. ground — crushed
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. ground — a position
  17. ground — the earth
  18. scale — in music
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. scale — size or range
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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