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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. ground — the earth
  3. mate — to breed
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. capital — money
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. tear — from crying
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. vault — a safe
  12. fork — in a road
  13. ground — crushed
  14. mate — a partner
  15. tear — to rip
  16. ground — a position
  17. land — a country
  18. land — to come down
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. bat — the animal
  21. tear — from crying
  22. land — ground
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. mate — a friend

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