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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: race · bulb · capital · row · wound · kid · fine · deal

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. race — a contest
  3. kid — to tease
  4. race — the arms race
  5. row — a line
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. bulb — for light
  8. bulb — for light
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. capital — money
  11. kid — child
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. capital — a city
  14. wound — an injury
  15. deal — to handle
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wound — an injury
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. race — humankind
  21. row — to paddle
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. fine — all right

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