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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 116 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: perch · mate · capital · tear · race · scale

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — to rip
  3. mate — a friend
  4. capital — a city
  5. scale — size or range
  6. race — the arms race
  7. race — a contest
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — the fish
  10. mate — a partner
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. tear — from crying
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. capital — money
  15. mate — to breed
  16. race — humankind
  17. scale — in music
  18. perch — for a bird

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