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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  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. mine — an explosive
  2. capital — money
  3. ground — a position
  4. lean — to bend
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. last — finally
  8. last — to go on
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. shower — to wash
  11. lie — to recline
  12. last — final
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. lean — thin
  15. capital — a city
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. content — happy
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. shower — rain
  20. ground — crushed
  21. content — the amount
  22. mine — for digging
  23. ground — the earth
  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