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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: race · object · rest · mark · chest · clip · capital · cap

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. mark — a grade
  3. object — an aim
  4. chest — of your body
  5. capital — a city
  6. clip — to cut
  7. rest — a break
  8. object — to protest
  9. clip — for paper
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rest — what's left
  12. clip — a video
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. mark — a trace
  15. object — a thing
  16. race — humankind
  17. cap — of ice
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. cap — a lid
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cap — a hat
  22. capital — money
  23. chest — a box
  24. race — a contest

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