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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 · cold · board · suit · drill · sharp · racket · hand

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. capital — money
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. suit — clothes
  5. board — to get on
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. hand — in cards
  10. suit — in cards
  11. suit — to fit
  12. cold — not warm
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. board — a committee
  15. capital — a city
  16. drill — a practice
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. sharp — clever
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. drill — the tool
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. drill — army training
  24. cold — an illness

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