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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. cell — in biology
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. court — for sport
  6. chip — to eat
  7. pitch — completely
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. pop — to visit
  10. shower — rain
  11. chip — for betting
  12. pop — music
  13. cap — of ice
  14. tear — from crying
  15. shower — to wash
  16. court — of law
  17. pop — soda
  18. cap — a hat
  19. cell — a phone
  20. court — of a king
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. tear — from crying
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. tear — to rip

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