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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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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. spring — the season
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. spring — a coil
  12. vault — a safe
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. tear — to rip
  15. spring — of water
  16. tear — from crying
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. tear — from crying
  21. capital — money
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — the animal

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