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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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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: race · bear · tear · capital · season · mine · arm · pound

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. race — a contest
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. capital — a city
  6. tear — from crying
  7. season — of the year
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. season — in sport
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. race — humankind
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. mine — for digging
  15. bear — the animal
  16. pound — a weight
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. capital — money
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. tear — from crying
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. race — the arms race
  23. tear — to rip
  24. season — to add flavour

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