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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. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. spell — magic
  3. court — for sport
  4. capital — a city
  5. wound — an injury
  6. spell — a short time
  7. court — of law
  8. cue — a hint
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. court — of a king
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. ground — a position
  14. spell — letters
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. bat — the animal
  17. ground — crushed
  18. ground — the earth
  19. cue — a signal
  20. pitch — completely
  21. capital — money
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. pitch — a sports field

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