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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 120 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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. club — for dancing
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. bound — certain
  5. race — the arms race
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. race — humankind
  8. ground — the earth
  9. bound — obliged
  10. capital — a city
  11. field — a subject
  12. ground — a position
  13. capital — money
  14. ground — crushed
  15. bound — tied together
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — farmland
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. club — a group
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tear — from crying
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. tear — from crying
  24. race — a contest

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