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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 116 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: game · hand · capital · tear · ground · can · bat · bowl

  1. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. game — a match
  3. game — wild animals
  4. ground — a position
  5. capital — money
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. ground — the earth
  8. tear — from crying
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. hand — help
  12. hand — in cards
  13. capital — a city
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. can — a tin
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. ground — crushed
  19. tear — to rip
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. bat — the animal
  23. tear — from crying
  24. can — to be able to

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