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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 120 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  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. hand — help
  2. hand — in cards
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. shower — rain
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. shower — to wash
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. capital — a city
  10. craft — a skill
  11. rock — music
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. vault — a safe
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. craft — boats
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. capital — money
  23. rock — a stone
  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