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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: capital · shower · key · race · chair · pound

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. race — humankind
  4. key — for a lock
  5. key — the most important part
  6. capital — money
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. shower — to wash
  9. capital — a city
  10. key — in music
  11. shower — rain
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. chair — a leader
  14. race — a contest
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. race — the arms race

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