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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 116 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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. ball — a dance
  3. snap — to click
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. ball — a great time
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. cue — for pool
  8. capital — money
  9. pop — soda
  10. shower — to wash
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. stock — goods
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. bat — the animal
  15. pop — music
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. capital — a city
  18. pop — to visit
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. cue — a hint
  21. shower — rain
  22. stock — shares
  23. cue — a signal
  24. ball — a round shape

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