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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: fine · craft · wound · chip · capital · degree · race · game

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. game — a match
  3. wound — an injury
  4. chip — for betting
  5. fine — high quality
  6. fine — all right
  7. race — humankind
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. craft — a skill
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. race — a contest
  13. capital — money
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. chip — to eat
  16. degree — temperature
  17. craft — boats
  18. degree — an amount
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. capital — a city
  21. degree — from a university
  22. race — the arms race
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. game — wild animals

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