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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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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: stick · rule · capital · race · rash · last · hand · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. last — to go on
  4. rash — a series
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. rash — hasty
  9. last — finally
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. last — final
  12. rule — government
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a city
  15. race — humankind
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. race — a contest
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. cold — an illness
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. race — the arms race
  22. hand — in cards
  23. hand — help
  24. rule — a law

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