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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. clip — for paper
  4. capital — money
  5. club — for dancing
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. race — humankind
  9. clip — to cut
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. bat — the animal
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. race — a contest
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. club — for golf
  17. clip — a video
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. capital — a city
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. club — a group
  22. perch — the fish
  23. race — the arms race
  24. perch — for a bird

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