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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. kid — to tease
  3. capital — money
  4. game — wild animals
  5. wound — an injury
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. race — the arms race
  9. foot — a measure
  10. kid — child
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. wound — an injury
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. race — humankind
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. race — a contest
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. game — a match
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. capital — a city

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