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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. tear — from crying
  3. band — a ring
  4. tear — from crying
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. capital — money
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. current — happening now
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. band — a music group
  11. content — happy
  12. capital — a city
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. tear — to rip
  15. current — of water
  16. content — the amount
  17. current — electric
  18. band — a rubber band

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