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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: spring · arm · wind · current · date · capital · chair · racket

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. wind — moving air
  3. capital — money
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. date — the fruit
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. current — happening now
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — of water
  15. spring — a coil
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. chair — a leader
  18. wind — moving air
  19. current — electric
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. current — of water
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. racket — for tennis

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