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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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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. net — in sport
  5. rush — hurry
  6. row — to paddle
  7. capital — money
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. net — for catching
  11. fine — all right
  12. wind — moving air
  13. fine — high quality
  14. net — after costs
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. content — the amount
  17. content — happy
  18. row — a line
  19. chair — a leader
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. wind — moving air
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. capital — a city
  24. fine — a penalty

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