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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 116 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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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: fan · chair · mine · racket · hide · capital · kick · race

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. race — humankind
  5. mine — for digging
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. capital — a city
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. race — a contest
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. capital — money
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. race — the arms race
  21. chair — a leader
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. kick — in football

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