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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: pound · race · spell · capital · key · bound · clip · chest

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. spell — letters
  3. key — for a lock
  4. race — humankind
  5. bound — obliged
  6. bound — certain
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — a box
  9. spell — magic
  10. key — in music
  11. race — a contest
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. chest — of your body
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. pound — a weight
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a city
  18. key — the most important part
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. clip — for paper
  21. spell — a short time
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — to cut
  24. bound — tied together

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