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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: bat · face · object · court · capital · shower · squash · ground

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. object — to protest
  3. object — an aim
  4. capital — a city
  5. ground — the earth
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. capital — money
  8. court — of law
  9. shower — rain
  10. ground — crushed
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. face — to point toward
  13. squash — to crush
  14. squash — the sport
  15. shower — to wash
  16. court — for sport
  17. bat — the animal
  18. face — to confront
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. object — a thing
  21. ground — a position
  22. court — of a king
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. face — part of the head

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