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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. capital — a city
  5. court — of law
  6. present — a gift
  7. capital — money
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. fall — to drop
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. present — the time now
  15. bat — the animal
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. fork — in a road
  19. stem — to come from
  20. court — for sport
  21. court — of a king
  22. present — there
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. stem — a stem cell

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