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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  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. race — a contest
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. last — finally
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wound — an injury
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cap — of ice
  9. race — the arms race
  10. last — to go on
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. track — a path
  13. cell — in biology
  14. capital — a city
  15. track — a song
  16. capital — money
  17. last — final
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cap — a lid
  21. track — to keep track
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cap — a hat
  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