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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: pitcher · ground · bat · capital · dip · bowl · calf · branch

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. capital — a city
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. branch — a division
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. ground — a position
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. capital — money
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. dip — to sink
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. ground — crushed
  21. ground — the earth
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. bat — the animal
  24. pitcher — in 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