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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 116 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: drill · net · wind · clip · capital · plane · bat · pitcher

  1. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — in geometry
  2. capital — money
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. net — after costs
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. net — for catching
  7. bat — the animal
  8. capital — a city
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. clip — a video
  11. wind — moving air
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. drill — the tool
  14. clip — to cut
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. net — in sport
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. drill — a practice
  20. plane — a tool
  21. drill — army training
  22. clip — for paper
  23. wind — moving air
  24. plane — an aircraft

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