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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. capital — a city
  3. branch — a division
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. pitch — completely
  8. pit — a hole
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — money
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. dip — to sink
  18. chair — a leader
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. drill — army training
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. pit — in a race
  23. drill — the tool
  24. drill — a practice

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