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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. capital — a city
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. capital — money
  6. drill — army training
  7. race — a contest
  8. race — the arms race
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. spring — the season
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. drill — a practice
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. roll — a cake
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. spring — a coil
  18. race — humankind
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. stand — to bear
  21. drill — the tool
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. spring — of water
  24. roll — a list

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