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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: capital · hand · pit · hide · cold · trunk · club · race

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  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. club — for golf
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. pit — in a race
  7. race — a contest
  8. pit — a hole
  9. club — for dancing
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. cold — not warm
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. cold — an illness
  14. race — humankind
  15. hand — in cards
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. club — a group
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. hand — help
  20. capital — money
  21. race — the arms race
  22. capital — a city
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  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