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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. file — a line of people
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. content — the amount
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. row — a line
  7. mate — to breed
  8. content — happy
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. field — a subject
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. row — to paddle
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. mate — a partner
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. field — for sport
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a tool
  19. mate — a friend
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. capital — money
  22. field — farmland
  23. capital — a city
  24. ruler — for measuring

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