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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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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: spell · racket · wind · cue · cabinet · capital · clip · ball

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. capital — a city
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. spell — letters
  8. cue — a hint
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. capital — money
  11. ball — a great time
  12. ball — a dance
  13. clip — to cut
  14. cue — for pool
  15. cue — a signal
  16. clip — for paper
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. spell — a short time
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. clip — a video
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. spell — magic

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