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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. face — to confront
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. foot — a measure
  8. capital — a city
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. tear — from crying
  13. capital — money
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. content — happy
  16. tear — from crying
  17. content — the amount
  18. wound — an injury
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. face — to point toward
  21. tear — to rip
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. wound — an injury
  24. face — part of the head

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