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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 · patient · game · nail · race · straw · perch · capital

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. chest — of your body
  3. capital — money
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. capital — a city
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. chest — of your body
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. race — humankind
  11. chest — a box
  12. race — the arms race
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. game — wild animals
  19. game — a match
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. perch — the fish
  24. perch — for a bird

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