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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 116 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. craft — boats
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. race — a contest
  5. race — the arms race
  6. capital — money
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. capital — a city
  9. cap — a hat
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. rash — hasty
  12. clip — for paper
  13. cap — of ice
  14. rash — a series
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. clip — a video
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. craft — a skill
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. race — humankind
  21. shower — rain
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. clip — to cut
  24. cap — a lid

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