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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. capital — money
  3. spring — the season
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. spring — a coil
  6. fall — to drop
  7. hand — in cards
  8. capital — a city
  9. hand — help
  10. mate — a partner
  11. race — humankind
  12. bat — the animal
  13. spring — of water
  14. fall — the season
  15. mate — a friend
  16. drill — the tool
  17. drill — army training
  18. mate — to breed
  19. fall — to drop
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. race — the arms race
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. race — a contest

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