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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. pit — in a race
  4. race — humankind
  5. face — to confront
  6. shower — to wash
  7. pit — a hole
  8. wind — moving air
  9. race — a contest
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. capital — a city
  12. face — to point toward
  13. club — for golf
  14. march — music
  15. shower — rain
  16. march — the month
  17. march — the month
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. club — for dancing
  20. race — the arms race
  21. face — part of the head
  22. wind — moving air
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. capital — money

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