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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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. land — to come down
  3. capital — money
  4. kid — to tease
  5. race — the arms race
  6. capital — a city
  7. last — final
  8. race — a contest
  9. object — an aim
  10. current — happening now
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. race — humankind
  14. object — a thing
  15. object — to protest
  16. current — of water
  17. last — finally
  18. kid — child
  19. land — ground
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kick — in football
  22. last — to go on
  23. current — electric
  24. land — a country

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