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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. capital — a city
  3. wind — moving air
  4. staff — employees
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. staff — a stick
  9. bass — low music
  10. court — for sport
  11. ball — a dance
  12. capital — money
  13. staff — employees
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. ball — a great time
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. court — of a king
  18. race — the arms race
  19. wind — moving air
  20. court — of law
  21. race — a contest
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  24. bass — the fish

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