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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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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: clip · race · coach · capital · net · stock · pitcher · deal

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. clip — a video
  4. net — in sport
  5. net — for catching
  6. capital — a city
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. deal — to handle
  10. net — after costs
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. stock — goods
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. stock — shares
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. race — a contest
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — for paper
  22. race — the arms race
  23. capital — money
  24. capital — a big letter

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