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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 124 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: chest · capital · wind · race · pitch · dip · lean · object

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. race — a contest
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. capital — money
  6. object — to protest
  7. object — a thing
  8. lean — thin
  9. wind — moving air
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. capital — a city
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wind — moving air
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. race — humankind
  16. lean — to bend
  17. pitch — completely
  18. chest — of your body
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. dip — to sink
  22. chest — a box
  23. chest — of your body
  24. race — the arms race

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