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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: scale · plane · capital · rule · pop · bat · chest · kid

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. rule — a law
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. scale — in music
  7. chest — a box
  8. capital — money
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. rule — government
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. pop — music
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — of your body
  17. pop — soda
  18. scale — size or range
  19. pop — to visit
  20. kid — to tease
  21. plane — a tool
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. kid — child
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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