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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 · tube · wind · capital · cap · chip

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. race — a contest
  3. capital — a city
  4. race — the arms race
  5. race — humankind
  6. chip — to eat
  7. cap — a hat
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. tube — the underground
  14. tube — a container
  15. chip — for betting
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. capital — money
  18. cap — a lid

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