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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a city
  4. vault — a safe
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — help
  7. chest — of your body
  8. row — a line
  9. net — after costs
  10. prune — to trim
  11. board — a committee
  12. board — to get on
  13. net — in sport
  14. prune — to trim
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. chest — of your body
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. row — to paddle
  21. chest — a box
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. hand — in cards
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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