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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. race — the arms race
  5. row — a line
  6. ground — crushed
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. capital — money
  9. ground — the earth
  10. pop — soda
  11. cap — a lid
  12. capital — a city
  13. race — a contest
  14. pit — a hole
  15. pop — music
  16. ground — a position
  17. pop — to visit
  18. row — to paddle
  19. race — humankind
  20. cap — of ice
  21. cap — a hat
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. pit — in a race
  24. coach — a trainer

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