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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bat — the animal
  3. rest — a break
  4. can — to be able to
  5. rest — what's left
  6. hand — in cards
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. ground — crushed
  9. capital — a city
  10. cap — a hat
  11. ground — a position
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. can — a tin
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. rest — what's left
  17. cap — of ice
  18. chest — a box
  19. ground — the earth
  20. capital — money
  21. cap — a lid
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. can — a tin
  24. chest — of your body

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