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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. cell — in biology
  4. mark — a grade
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. mark — a trace
  7. capital — a city
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. capital — money
  10. net — after costs
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. race — the arms race
  13. cell — a phone
  14. pit — a hole
  15. net — for catching
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. race — humankind
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. pit — in a race
  20. net — in sport
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. kick — in football
  23. mine — for digging
  24. race — a contest

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