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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: fan · lie · chip · straw · branch · race · capital · cold

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. race — humankind
  3. cold — not warm
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. lie — to recline
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. branch — a division
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. chip — for betting
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. race — the arms race
  16. capital — a city
  17. chip — to eat
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. race — a contest
  22. cold — an illness
  23. capital — money
  24. cold — the Cold War

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