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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: club · march · cold · capital · race · rush

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. march — the month
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. rush — hurry
  7. race — humankind
  8. march — the month
  9. club — for golf
  10. race — the arms race
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. march — music
  13. cold — not warm
  14. race — a contest
  15. club — for dancing
  16. capital — money
  17. club — a group
  18. cold — an illness

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