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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. tear — from crying
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. kid — child
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. capital — a city
  7. band — a music group
  8. race — a contest
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. kid — to tease
  12. capital — money
  13. chip — for betting
  14. band — a ring
  15. scale — in music
  16. race — humankind
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. scale — size or range
  19. tear — from crying
  20. chip — to eat
  21. race — the arms race
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. tear — to rip
  24. pitch — a sports field

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