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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: game · pitcher · capital · nail · row · tear · spring · club

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. game — wild animals
  3. row — a line
  4. row — to paddle
  5. tear — to rip
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. spring — a coil
  11. game — a match
  12. capital — a city
  13. club — for golf
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. spring — the season
  16. capital — money
  17. tear — from crying
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. tear — from crying
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. club — for dancing
  23. spring — of water
  24. club — a group

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