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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 120 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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. fork — in a road
  5. mate — a friend
  6. snap — to click
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. capital — money
  10. mate — to breed
  11. content — happy
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. content — the amount
  14. scale — size or range
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. scale — in music
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. capital — a city

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