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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  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. kick — with a leg
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. content — the amount
  4. capital — a city
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. perch — the fish
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. file — a line of people
  9. kick — in football
  10. content — happy
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. file — a tool
  15. cell — a phone
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. cell — in biology
  18. file — a document
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. chair — a leader
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. pitcher — a jug
  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