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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. net — after costs
  5. capital — a city
  6. net — in sport
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. saw — the tool
  9. content — the amount
  10. capital — money
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. content — happy
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — to tease
  15. saw — the tool
  16. rash — a series
  17. net — for catching
  18. rash — hasty

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