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

Word bank: charge · race · wind · wound · deal · capital

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  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. wind — to turn a key
  2. race — a contest
  3. wound — an injury
  4. capital — money
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. charge — electricity
  8. wind — moving air
  9. charge — in control
  10. charge — a price
  11. wound — an injury
  12. capital — a city
  13. race — humankind
  14. wind — moving air
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. deal — to handle
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  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