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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. tear — from crying
  3. race — humankind
  4. present — there
  5. last — to go on
  6. race — a contest
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. last — final
  9. tear — from crying
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. chip — for betting
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. capital — a city
  14. row — a line
  15. tear — to rip
  16. hand — in cards
  17. last — finally
  18. row — to paddle
  19. hand — help
  20. present — a gift
  21. race — the arms race
  22. present — the time now
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. chip — to eat

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