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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: arm · degree · mine · wave · capital · race · bowl · shower

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. capital — a city
  8. shower — rain
  9. degree — from a university
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. degree — temperature
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. race — humankind
  19. degree — an amount
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. race — a contest
  22. shower — to wash
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. race — the arms race

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