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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. deal — to handle
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. race — a contest
  10. content — happy
  11. kid — child
  12. shower — to wash
  13. content — the amount
  14. season — of the year
  15. shower — rain
  16. season — in sport
  17. capital — a city
  18. scale — size or range
  19. capital — money
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. scale — in music
  22. race — humankind
  23. race — the arms race
  24. season — to add flavour

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