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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: deal · current · capital · wound · race · chest · rule · temple

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. capital — money
  4. chest — of your body
  5. wound — an injury
  6. chest — a box
  7. chest — of your body
  8. race — the arms race
  9. deal — to handle
  10. wound — an injury
  11. current — electric
  12. rule — a law
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. race — a contest
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. rule — government
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. race — humankind
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. capital — a city
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. current — happening now
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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