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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 · mate · track · rule · race · bat · wake · pitch

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. rule — government
  3. race — humankind
  4. race — the arms race
  5. track — a path
  6. track — to keep track
  7. pitch — completely
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. track — a song
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. wake — a trail
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. race — a contest
  15. mate — a friend
  16. mate — a partner
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a city
  20. rule — a law
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. mate — to breed
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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