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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  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. hand — in cards
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. capital — money
  4. clip — to cut
  5. pit — in a race
  6. game — wild animals
  7. race — humankind
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. capital — a city
  10. clip — for paper
  11. game — a match
  12. hand — help
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. pit — a hole
  15. race — the arms race
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. clip — a video
  21. sharp — clever
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. sharp — with an edge
  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