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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: race · mate · file · pop · kid · capital

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. file — a line of people
  3. race — humankind
  4. capital — money
  5. file — a tool
  6. pop — soda
  7. file — a document
  8. mate — a friend
  9. kid — to tease
  10. mate — to breed
  11. capital — a city
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — a contest
  15. pop — to visit
  16. pop — music
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. kid — child

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