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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: hand · stick · lean · stand · capital · mine · pop · bat

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. pop — soda
  3. bat — the animal
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. hand — in cards
  6. mine — for digging
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. hand — help
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. stand — to bear
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. lean — to bend
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. capital — money
  20. pop — to visit
  21. lean — thin
  22. capital — a city
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. 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