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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. drill — a practice
  3. drill — army training
  4. race — humankind
  5. race — a contest
  6. drill — the tool
  7. race — the arms race
  8. club — a group
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. capital — money
  13. chair — a leader
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. cold — an illness
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. club — for golf
  22. capital — a city
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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