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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. present — there
  3. clip — for paper
  4. present — a gift
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. race — humankind
  7. race — a contest
  8. key — the most important part
  9. race — the arms race
  10. key — for a lock
  11. capital — a city
  12. clip — to cut
  13. craft — a skill
  14. kid — to tease
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. chip — for betting
  17. craft — boats
  18. key — in music
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. kid — child
  21. chip — to eat
  22. present — the time now
  23. clip — a video
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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