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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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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: racket · kick · chair · bowl · capital · row · hand · vault

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. hand — help
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. capital — a city
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. kick — in football
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. capital — money
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. hand — in cards
  13. chair — a leader
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. row — to paddle
  21. row — a line
  22. vault — a safe
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. hand — part of the 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