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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. cap — of ice
  3. spell — letters
  4. rash — hasty
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. capital — money
  8. cap — a lid
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. spell — a short time
  12. race — a contest
  13. race — the arms race
  14. file — a tool
  15. rash — a series
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. file — a line of people
  18. cap — a hat
  19. race — humankind
  20. bank — for money
  21. bank — for money
  22. spell — magic
  23. bank — of a river
  24. capital — a city

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