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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. vault — a safe
  3. spell — letters
  4. spell — magic
  5. last — to go on
  6. net — for catching
  7. spell — a short time
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. last — finally
  10. bass — the fish
  11. net — in sport
  12. content — happy
  13. bass — low music
  14. last — final
  15. capital — a city
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. pound — a weight
  19. net — after costs
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. content — the amount
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. capital — money

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