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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: fan · vault · race · chair · capital · perch · ground · pitch

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. race — a contest
  3. ground — a position
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. capital — money
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. chair — a leader
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. ground — crushed
  13. perch — the fish
  14. pitch — completely
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. ground — the earth
  19. vault — a safe
  20. capital — a city
  21. race — the arms race
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. fan — a supporter

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