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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 116 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 · deal · capital · band · calf · bat · pound · fan

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. race — humankind
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. deal — to handle
  6. race — a contest
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. band — a music group
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. capital — money
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — a city
  16. pound — a weight
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. band — a ring
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. bat — the animal
  23. race — the arms race
  24. bat — for baseball

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