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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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Word bank
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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: race · cold · capital · ruler · perch · wound

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. capital — a city
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. perch — the fish
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. race — the arms race
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. cold — not warm
  9. wound — an injury
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. race — a contest
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. cold — an illness
  16. capital — money
  17. wound — an injury
  18. perch — for a bird

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