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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: hand · wind · tear · rash · bass · chest · capital · pitcher

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. rash — hasty
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. chest — a box
  6. tear — to rip
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. hand — in cards
  9. capital — money
  10. wind — moving air
  11. rash — a series
  12. chest — of your body
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. tear — from crying
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. chest — of your body
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. tear — from crying
  22. bass — low music
  23. capital — a city
  24. hand — help

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