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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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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: net · capital · tube · object · chair · cabinet · clip · race

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. net — after costs
  3. capital — money
  4. object — a thing
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. object — to protest
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. race — the arms race
  9. race — humankind
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. object — an aim
  13. net — for catching
  14. clip — a video
  15. net — in sport
  16. race — a contest
  17. clip — for paper
  18. chair — a leader
  19. tube — the underground
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. tube — a container
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. clip — to cut

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