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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. race — a contest
  3. cap — a hat
  4. track — to keep track
  5. rock — a stone
  6. cap — a lid
  7. track — a path
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. rock — music
  10. capital — money
  11. clip — to cut
  12. spring — a coil
  13. cap — of ice
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. race — the arms race
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. clip — for paper
  18. capital — a city
  19. track — a song
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. clip — a video
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — of water
  24. race — humankind

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