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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 120 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: shower · pitch · wind · fall · cabinet · capital · land · rush

  1. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. fall — the season
  3. wind — moving air
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. land — a country
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. fall — to drop
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. fall — to drop
  14. capital — money
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. land — ground
  17. wind — moving air
  18. shower — rain
  19. rush — hurry
  20. pitch — completely
  21. capital — a city
  22. land — to come down
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. shower — to wash

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