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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: rest · bound · capital · wind · chair · hand · wound · rock

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. capital — a city
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. chair — a leader
  7. bound — obliged
  8. rock — music
  9. capital — money
  10. rest — what's left
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. wind — moving air
  13. rest — what's left
  14. bound — certain
  15. bound — tied together
  16. wound — an injury
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. wound — an injury
  19. rest — a break
  20. rock — a stone
  21. hand — help
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. hand — in cards
  24. wind — to turn a key

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