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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: straw · capital · craft · race · club · stand · file · sharp

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. capital — money
  3. club — for golf
  4. capital — a city
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. file — a line of people
  8. sharp — clever
  9. club — a group
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. race — a contest
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. club — for dancing
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. stand — to bear
  18. race — humankind
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. race — the arms race
  21. craft — a skill
  22. file — a tool
  23. craft — boats
  24. file — a document

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