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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: net · ground · lean · capital · race · squash · trunk · kid

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. ground — the earth
  4. race — the arms race
  5. kid — child
  6. race — humankind
  7. lean — thin
  8. kid — to tease
  9. net — for catching
  10. net — in sport
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. net — after costs
  13. lean — to bend
  14. ground — a position
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. squash — the sport
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. squash — to crush
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — money
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. ground — crushed

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