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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: net · spring · pit · hand · capital · chair · fan · wound

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. pit — in a race
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — an injury
  5. net — after costs
  6. chair — a leader
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. pit — a hole
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. net — for catching
  16. net — in sport
  17. hand — help
  18. capital — a city
  19. spring — a coil
  20. spring — of water
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. hand — in cards
  23. spring — the season
  24. capital — money

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