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

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. capital — a city
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. season — of the year
  7. ball — a dance
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. capital — money
  11. ground — the earth
  12. ground — a position
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. bat — the animal
  16. ground — crushed
  17. fine — all right
  18. scale — size or range
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. ball — a great time
  21. scale — in music
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. season — in sport
  24. bat — for baseball

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