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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. bulb — for light
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. race — the arms race
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — for digging
  8. capital — money
  9. capital — a city
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. game — wild animals
  13. cold — not warm
  14. game — a match
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. bulb — for light
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. race — humankind
  19. rash — hasty
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. cold — an illness
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. rash — a series

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