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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. court — of a king
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. capital — money
  5. ground — crushed
  6. ground — the earth
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. capital — a city
  9. present — there
  10. court — of law
  11. court — for sport
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. present — the time now
  14. rash — hasty
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. rash — a series
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. bat — the animal
  22. pitch — completely
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. present — a gift

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