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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: chest · mouse · tear · rest · capital · race · lash · row

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. tear — to rip
  3. rest — what's left
  4. capital — a city
  5. chest — of your body
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. row — a line
  11. rest — what's left
  12. race — the arms race
  13. row — to paddle
  14. tear — from crying
  15. race — humankind
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. race — a contest
  21. tear — from crying
  22. chest — of your body
  23. rest — a break
  24. chest — a box

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