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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. capital — money
  6. cue — a hint
  7. pit — in a race
  8. pit — a hole
  9. bat — the animal
  10. charge — electricity
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — help
  15. cue — for pool
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. cue — a signal
  19. charge — in control
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. charge — a price
  22. spring — the season
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. spring — of water

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