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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. race — the arms race
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. race — humankind
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. bat — the animal
  8. tear — to rip
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. tear — from crying
  13. race — a contest
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. pitch — completely
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — money

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