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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 · bank · dip · capital · hand · land · ground · mouse

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. land — a country
  4. hand — help
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. land — ground
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bank — for money
  9. bank — for money
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bank — of a river
  12. ground — the earth
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. dip — to sink
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. bat — the animal
  17. ground — crushed
  18. land — to come down
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. capital — a city
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. ground — a position
  24. capital — money

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