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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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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: racket · perch · spring · mine · bat · capital · clip · vault

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — a video
  6. capital — a city
  7. spring — of water
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. capital — money
  10. spring — the season
  11. perch — the fish
  12. clip — for paper
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. spring — a coil
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. vault — a safe
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — the animal
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. mine — for digging

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