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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: perch · capital · race · object · bat · wind · club · pit

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. perch — the fish
  9. race — the arms race
  10. club — a group
  11. object — a thing
  12. race — a contest
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. capital — a city
  16. object — an aim
  17. race — humankind
  18. pit — in a race
  19. club — for golf
  20. pit — a hole
  21. club — for dancing
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bat — the animal
  24. capital — money

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