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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. race — a contest
  3. capital — money
  4. cell — a phone
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. plane — a tool
  7. pitch — completely
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. rest — what's left
  10. court — for sport
  11. rest — what's left
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. rest — a break
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. court — of a king
  17. cell — in biology
  18. squash — to crush
  19. race — humankind
  20. squash — the sport
  21. race — the arms race
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. court — of law
  24. plane — in geometry

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