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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. wound — an injury
  3. pitch — completely
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. bat — the animal
  7. squash — to crush
  8. capital — money
  9. squash — the sport
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. race — the arms race
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. perch — the fish
  19. capital — a city
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. race — a contest
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. wound — an injury
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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