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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. fall — to drop
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. fall — to drop
  5. ground — the earth
  6. club — for golf
  7. bat — the animal
  8. club — a group
  9. pound — a weight
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. ground — a position
  12. capital — a city
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. bass — the fish
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. fall — the season
  18. bass — low music
  19. ground — crushed
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. capital — money

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