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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  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. row — a line
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. pit — a hole
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. roll — a list
  9. row — to paddle
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. pit — in a race
  12. game — a match
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. game — wild animals
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. roll — a cake
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — money
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — the animal
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. toast — bread
  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