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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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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: race · firm · shower · pop · content · bat · capital · stick

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. firm — decided
  3. race — humankind
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. race — a contest
  6. content — the amount
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. content — happy
  9. shower — rain
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. firm — a company
  12. pop — soda
  13. race — the arms race
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. firm — steady
  18. capital — money
  19. pop — to visit
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. pop — music
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — the animal
  24. capital — a city

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