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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wake · capital · file · race · ball · pop · fork · saw

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — humankind
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. saw — the tool
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. pop — music
  8. capital — a city
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. ball — a great time
  11. pop — to visit
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. file — a line of people
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. file — a tool
  16. saw — the tool
  17. race — the arms race
  18. pop — soda
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. wake — a trail
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. fork — in a road
  23. ball — a dance
  24. capital — money

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