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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. mark — a grade
  3. club — a group
  4. tube — the underground
  5. season — in sport
  6. bat — the animal
  7. capital — a city
  8. capital — money
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. season — of the year
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. shower — rain
  13. tube — a container
  14. mark — a trace
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. shower — to wash
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. club — for dancing
  24. club — for golf

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