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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bat · rest · capital · cell · fine · stick

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. bat — the animal
  4. rest — what's left
  5. capital — money
  6. fine — all right
  7. fine — high quality
  8. rest — what's left
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. cell — a phone
  11. rest — a break
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. capital — a city
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. cell — in biology
  18. stick — a piece of wood

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