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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. vault — a safe
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. cold — an illness
  12. craft — boats
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. present — a gift
  16. bat — the animal
  17. present — the time now
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. craft — a skill
  20. present — there
  21. capital — money
  22. date — the fruit
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. capital — a big letter

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