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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. drill — a practice
  5. pit — a hole
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. spell — letters
  8. pit — in a race
  9. spell — a short time
  10. content — the amount
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. drill — the tool
  13. capital — money
  14. content — happy
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. drill — army training
  18. spell — magic

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