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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: capital · game · cabinet · ground · race · straw · pitch · toast

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. capital — money
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. race — the arms race
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. pitch — completely
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. ground — crushed
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. game — a match
  15. ground — the earth
  16. capital — a city
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. race — a contest
  21. race — humankind
  22. game — wild animals
  23. toast — bread
  24. ground — a position

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