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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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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: pitch · saw · snap · jam · fall · cell · capital · bat

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. saw — the tool
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. capital — a city
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. bat — the animal
  9. saw — the tool
  10. snap — to click
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. fall — to drop
  14. pitch — completely
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. cell — a phone
  17. capital — money
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — the season
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. jam — a tight spot

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