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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 120 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: temple · snap · capital · plane · stock · race · bat · cap

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. stock — goods
  6. capital — a city
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. stock — shares
  10. race — a contest
  11. cap — of ice
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. race — the arms race
  15. race — humankind
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. capital — money
  21. snap — to click
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. cap — a lid
  24. plane — a tool

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