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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  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. bat — the animal
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. capital — money
  4. shower — rain
  5. capital — a city
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. mate — a partner
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. squash — the sport
  10. shower — to wash
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. pitch — completely
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. board — a committee
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. mate — a friend
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. vault — a safe
  19. mate — to breed
  20. squash — to crush
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. board — to get on
  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