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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: pound · net · race · lie · cold · chip · mine · capital

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. race — humankind
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. race — the arms race
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. cold — an illness
  8. capital — money
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. net — after costs
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. capital — a city
  15. race — a contest
  16. pound — a weight
  17. net — for catching
  18. lie — to recline
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. mine — for digging
  21. chip — to eat
  22. cold — not warm
  23. chip — for betting
  24. chip — in a computer

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