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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 120 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: kick · band · game · pitch · rest · straw · race · capital

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. game — a match
  3. race — humankind
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. race — the arms race
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. race — a contest
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. capital — a city
  14. kick — in football
  15. rest — a break
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. pitch — completely
  18. rest — what's left
  19. game — wild animals
  20. rest — what's left
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. band — a music group
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. band — a ring

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