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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: capital · wind · kid · race · craft · squash

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. craft — boats
  3. wind — moving air
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. kid — to tease
  6. capital — a city
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. race — the arms race
  9. squash — the sport
  10. wind — moving air
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. capital — money
  16. squash — to crush
  17. craft — a skill
  18. race — a contest

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