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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: race · capital · cell · kid · wake · rash

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  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. capital — a city
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. race — humankind
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. kid — to tease
  7. wake — a trail
  8. race — a contest
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. rash — hasty
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cell — in biology
  15. capital — money
  16. rash — a series
  17. kid — child
  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