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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. rule — government
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. tear — from crying
  5. race — the arms race
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. tear — to rip
  8. bound — tied together
  9. rule — a law
  10. bat — the animal
  11. race — humankind
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bound — obliged
  14. capital — money
  15. tear — from crying
  16. bound — certain
  17. plane — a tool
  18. race — a contest
  19. wind — moving air
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. capital — a big letter

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