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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: mark · bat · capital · chest · cell · bass · ball · mate

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. ball — a dance
  5. bass — low music
  6. chest — a box
  7. cell — a phone
  8. mate — a partner
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. mark — a grade
  11. cell — in biology
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. mate — a friend
  17. chest — of your body
  18. mark — a trace
  19. ball — a great time
  20. mate — to breed
  21. capital — a city
  22. bass — the fish
  23. capital — money
  24. chest — of your body

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