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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.

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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  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. nail — on a finger
  2. bat — the animal
  3. capital — money
  4. content — the amount
  5. game — wild animals
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. fine — all right
  8. content — happy
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. capital — a city
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. fine — high quality
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. rule — government
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. game — a match
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. rule — a law
  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