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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  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. object — a thing
  2. wind — moving air
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — money
  6. kid — to tease
  7. object — an aim
  8. bass — the fish
  9. content — happy
  10. kid — child
  11. bat — the animal
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. object — to protest
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bass — low music
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. wind — moving air
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. dip — to sink
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. content — the amount
  23. dip — a sauce
  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