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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. pitch — completely
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. court — for sport
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. file — a document
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. capital — money
  13. court — of law
  14. file — a line of people
  15. last — final
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. file — a tool
  18. tube — the underground
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. last — finally
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. court — of a king
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. last — to go on

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