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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 120 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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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: wound · mate · straw · spring · bowl · game · capital · race

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. game — wild animals
  3. race — the arms race
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. spring — a coil
  9. mate — a partner
  10. spring — the season
  11. wound — an injury
  12. capital — a city
  13. race — humankind
  14. game — a match
  15. capital — money
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wound — an injury
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. mate — a friend
  22. spring — of water
  23. race — a contest
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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