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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. cue — a hint
  4. game — wild animals
  5. capital — a city
  6. race — a contest
  7. wound — an injury
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. game — a match
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. race — the arms race
  13. cue — for pool
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. clip — for paper
  16. race — humankind
  17. clip — a video
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. clip — to cut
  21. capital — money
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. cue — a signal
  24. trunk — of a tree

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