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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: straw · dip · scale · bat · shower · capital · track · fine

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. dip — to sink
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. capital — money
  8. scale — size or range
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. shower — to wash
  12. bat — the animal
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. track — a song
  18. capital — a city
  19. shower — rain
  20. track — a path
  21. fine — all right
  22. scale — in music
  23. fine — high quality
  24. bat — in an idiom

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