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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: kick · cap · race · capital · rock · prune

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. 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. rock — music
  2. race — a contest
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. race — humankind
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. race — the arms race
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. capital — a city
  12. kick — in football
  13. prune — to trim
  14. cap — a hat
  15. cap — a lid
  16. cap — of ice
  17. rock — a stone
  18. 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