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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. pass — a permit
  4. object — a thing
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. scale — in music
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. scale — size or range
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. capital — a city
  13. wound — an injury
  14. game — wild animals
  15. pitch — completely
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. game — a match
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. wound — an injury
  22. object — an aim
  23. bat — the animal
  24. capital — money

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