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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  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. spring — of water
  2. vault — a safe
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. land — a country
  6. spring — a coil
  7. dip — to sink
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. pitch — completely
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. land — to come down
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a city
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. bat — the animal
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. spring — the season
  19. land — ground
  20. lie — to recline
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. dip — a sauce
  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