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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: capital · bowl · arm · tube · cap · pound · race · season

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. season — of the year
  3. tube — a container
  4. season — in sport
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. capital — a city
  8. cap — a hat
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. cap — of ice
  12. pound — a weight
  13. race — a contest
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. capital — money
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. tube — the underground
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. race — the arms race
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. cap — a lid
  24. race — humankind

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