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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 · pit · date · rule · net · spring · racket · race

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. spring — the season
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. spring — of water
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. date — the fruit
  8. capital — a city
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. rule — a law
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. rule — government
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. net — after costs
  15. spring — a coil
  16. race — a contest
  17. race — the arms race
  18. race — humankind
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. net — for catching
  21. pit — a hole
  22. pit — in a race
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. net — in sport

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