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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. capital — money
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. march — the month
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. drill — a practice
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. can — to be able to
  13. drill — army training
  14. march — the month
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. sharp — clever
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. capital — a city
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. can — a tin
  22. can — a tin
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. march — music

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