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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. ground — a position
  3. ground — crushed
  4. ground — the earth
  5. bass — the fish
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. fall — to drop
  8. snap — to click
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. fall — the season
  12. fall — to drop
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. pitch — completely
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. bass — low music
  21. capital — money
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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