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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. rash — a series
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. race — a contest
  6. race — the arms race
  7. rash — hasty
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. race — humankind
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a city
  13. ground — crushed
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wound — an injury
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. ground — the earth
  19. wound — an injury
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. tube — a container
  22. tube — the underground
  23. ground — a position
  24. wind — moving air

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