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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. race — a contest
  5. bass — the fish
  6. rush — hurry
  7. hand — help
  8. capital — money
  9. game — wild animals
  10. game — a match
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. hand — in cards
  14. tear — from crying
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bass — low music
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. capital — a city
  20. race — the arms race
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. race — humankind
  23. fine — all right
  24. tear — to rip

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