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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: mark · capital · mine · pound · can · bat · ground · tear

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. capital — a city
  3. ground — a position
  4. mark — a grade
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. mine — for digging
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. bat — the animal
  13. can — to be able to
  14. can — a tin
  15. can — a tin
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. ground — the earth
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. ground — crushed
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — to rip
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. mark — a trace
  24. capital — money

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