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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 120 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. race — a contest
  7. court — of a king
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — a box
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. race — humankind
  13. chest — of your body
  14. deal — to handle
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. court — for sport
  18. capital — money
  19. wake — a trail
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. court — of law
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. race — the arms race

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