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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: arm · capital · chest · squash · sharp · racket · wind · rash

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. rash — a series
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. sharp — clever
  6. capital — a city
  7. rash — hasty
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. chest — of your body
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. wind — moving air
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. wind — moving air
  16. chest — of your body
  17. squash — the sport
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. capital — money
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. chest — a box
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. arm — part of the body

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