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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: ruler · capital · bat · pitch · cap · tube · mark · net

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. cap — a hat
  3. capital — a city
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. tube — a container
  6. pitch — completely
  7. mark — a trace
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. capital — money
  10. net — for catching
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. net — in sport
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. mark — a grade
  19. tube — the underground
  20. cap — a lid
  21. cap — of ice
  22. bat — the animal
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. net — after costs

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