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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. cue — a signal
  3. bat — the animal
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. plane — a tool
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. capital — money
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. cue — for pool
  15. cue — a hint
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. pitch — completely
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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