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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. capital — money
  3. file — a document
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. press — a publisher
  7. ground — crushed
  8. capital — a city
  9. press — to push
  10. press — newspapers
  11. file — a tool
  12. ground — the earth
  13. file — a line of people
  14. content — the amount
  15. ground — a position
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. season — in sport
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. season — of the year
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. temple — a place of worship

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