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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. spring — of water
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. dip — to sink
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. spring — the season
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. last — finally
  9. ball — a great time
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. capital — money
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. spring — a coil
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. last — final
  16. capital — a city
  17. last — to go on
  18. stand — to bear
  19. mark — a trace
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. mark — a grade
  22. ball — a dance
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. stand — for spectators

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