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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. mug — a face
  3. hand — in cards
  4. bat — the animal
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. pound — a weight
  8. lean — thin
  9. capital — a city
  10. mug — a cup
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. lean — to bend
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. mug — to rob
  18. pound — for dogs

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