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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. press — a publisher
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. capital — a city
  6. content — happy
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. craft — a skill
  9. vault — a safe
  10. field — a subject
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. craft — boats
  13. field — farmland
  14. press — newspapers
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. capital — money
  18. field — for sport
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. press — to push
  21. perch — the fish
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. content — videos and posts

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