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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: last · race · rush · band · fine · capital · bat · cabinet

  1. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. fine — all right
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. capital — money
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. race — humankind
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. race — a contest
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. band — a music group
  12. fine — high quality
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. last — to go on
  16. last — finally
  17. last — final
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. band — a ring
  20. rush — hurry
  21. capital — a city
  22. race — the arms race
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. bat — the animal

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