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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. rule — government
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. capital — a city
  5. mark — a trace
  6. shower — rain
  7. content — the amount
  8. rule — a law
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. mark — a grade
  12. mine — for digging
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. shower — to wash
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. content — happy
  19. capital — money
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. date — the fruit

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