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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. swing — to play on
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. march — the month
  7. perch — the fish
  8. swing — in golf
  9. swing — music
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. vault — a safe
  12. pitch — completely
  13. bat — the animal
  14. march — the month
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. date — the fruit
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. march — music
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. capital — money
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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