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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. content — the amount
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. capital — a city
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. bass — low music
  8. content — happy
  9. mark — a grade
  10. capital — money
  11. bass — the fish
  12. cold — not warm
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. spell — magic
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. spell — a short time
  19. mark — a trace
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. sharp — clever
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. spell — letters
  24. cold — an illness

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