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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. bore — to tire
  3. content — happy
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bore — to drill
  9. race — the arms race
  10. capital — money
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. mate — a friend
  13. sharp — clever
  14. capital — a city
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. race — a contest
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. content — the amount
  19. race — humankind
  20. mate — a partner
  21. mate — to breed
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. bat — in an idiom

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