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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. file — a document
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. capital — money
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. file — a tool
  8. race — the arms race
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. mate — to breed
  12. season — in sport
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. mate — a partner
  15. season — of the year
  16. race — a contest
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. mate — a friend
  19. bat — the animal
  20. race — humankind
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. kick — in football
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. file — a line of people

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