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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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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: leaves · pitch · wound · hand · club · present · wind · capital

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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. hand — in cards
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. wound — an injury
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. hand — help
  8. wind — moving air
  9. capital — money
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. present — there
  15. club — for golf
  16. pitch — completely
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. club — a group
  19. present — a gift
  20. present — the time now
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. club — for dancing

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