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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: tear · capital · ruler · court · swing · race · shower · hand

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. capital — a city
  3. race — humankind
  4. race — a contest
  5. court — of a king
  6. shower — rain
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. tear — to rip
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. swing — music
  12. hand — in cards
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. shower — to wash
  16. court — for sport
  17. capital — money
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. race — the arms race
  20. swing — to play on
  21. swing — in golf
  22. court — of law
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — from crying

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