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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. degree — an amount
  3. mug — to rob
  4. capital — money
  5. mug — a face
  6. spring — a coil
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. capital — a city
  9. spring — of water
  10. mug — a cup
  11. bat — the animal
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. vault — a safe
  14. spring — the season
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. degree — from a university
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. hand — help
  21. degree — temperature
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. hand — in cards

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