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

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. prune — to trim
  3. chip — to eat
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. capital — a city
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. net — after costs
  9. snap — to click
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. net — for catching
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. capital — money
  14. content — happy
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. chip — for betting
  17. net — in sport
  18. prune — to trim

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