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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: capital · saw · sharp · bass · race · scale · game · bank

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. race — humankind
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. bass — low music
  6. game — a match
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. bank — for money
  10. race — a contest
  11. scale — in music
  12. saw — the tool
  13. bank — of a river
  14. game — wild animals
  15. race — the arms race
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. bank — for money
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. saw — the tool
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. bass — the fish
  23. scale — size or range
  24. capital — money

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