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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: scale · swing · net · race · wake · capital · object · clip

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. object — a thing
  3. swing — to play on
  4. race — a contest
  5. clip — to cut
  6. scale — in music
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. race — humankind
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. swing — in golf
  12. clip — a video
  13. net — in sport
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. swing — music
  16. net — for catching
  17. capital — a city
  18. clip — for paper
  19. net — after costs
  20. wake — a trail
  21. object — to protest
  22. capital — money
  23. scale — size or range
  24. race — the arms race

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