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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. can — a tin
  3. can — a tin
  4. race — a contest
  5. capital — money
  6. fall — to drop
  7. game — wild animals
  8. game — a match
  9. court — for sport
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. race — humankind
  12. can — to be able to
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. court — of a king
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. fall — the season
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. capital — a city
  20. bat — the animal
  21. court — of law
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. fall — to drop
  24. race — the arms race

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