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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 116 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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. snap — to click
  4. race — the arms race
  5. chip — for betting
  6. clip — a video
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. chip — to eat
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. race — a contest
  12. capital — a city
  13. clip — to cut
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. degree — an amount
  16. clip — for paper
  17. race — humankind
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. degree — from a university
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. degree — temperature
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. chip — in a computer

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