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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: key · wind · pitcher · craft · kid · rash · foot · capital

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. key — for a lock
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. foot — a measure
  5. key — in music
  6. capital — money
  7. key — the most important part
  8. kid — to tease
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. craft — boats
  11. rash — a series
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. capital — a city
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. wind — moving air
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. wind — moving air
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. kid — child
  23. craft — a skill
  24. wind — to turn a key

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