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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: saw · leaves · cold · game · race · wake · capital · date

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. game — wild animals
  4. date — the fruit
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. saw — the tool
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — an illness
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. capital — money
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. capital — a city
  13. wake — a trail
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. race — a contest
  17. game — a match
  18. race — the arms race
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. cold — not warm
  21. race — humankind
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. saw — the tool

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