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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 124 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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. last — final
  3. mark — a trace
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. race — a contest
  7. squash — the sport
  8. root — the cause
  9. last — finally
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. root — of a word
  12. bat — the animal
  13. race — the arms race
  14. squash — to crush
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. capital — money
  17. last — to go on
  18. root — of a plant
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. race — humankind
  21. capital — a city
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. mark — a grade
  24. bat — in an idiom

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