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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. hand — in cards
  4. pitch — completely
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. cell — in biology
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. bark — to shout
  9. capital — a city
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. firm — a company
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. bat — the animal
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. cell — a phone
  21. firm — steady
  22. hand — help
  23. capital — money
  24. firm — decided

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