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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: capital · bat · firm · squash · hand · safe · clip · rock

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. rock — music
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. capital — money
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. clip — to cut
  8. squash — the sport
  9. hand — in cards
  10. capital — a city
  11. safe — a strongbox
  12. bat — the animal
  13. firm — steady
  14. firm — decided
  15. clip — for paper
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. rock — a stone
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. squash — to crush
  20. firm — a company
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. clip — a video
  23. hand — help
  24. bat — for baseball

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