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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 water is too ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pitch — completely
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. capital — a city
  6. hand — in cards
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. capital — money
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. cold — an illness
  11. foot — a measure
  12. track — a song
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. hand — help
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. track — to keep track
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. track — a path
  24. bat — the animal

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