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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: stick · rash · net · capital · degree · racket · wound · chest

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. rash — hasty
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. net — in sport
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. net — for catching
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. degree — an amount
  12. rash — a series
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. capital — a city
  15. wound — an injury
  16. degree — temperature
  17. chest — a box
  18. chest — of your body
  19. net — after costs
  20. degree — from a university
  21. wound — an injury
  22. chest — of your body
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. racket — for tennis

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