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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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. bat — in an idiom
  4. bat — the animal
  5. capital — a city
  6. capital — money
  7. wind — moving air
  8. content — happy
  9. staff — employees
  10. staff — a stick
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. content — the amount
  13. mine — for digging
  14. bulb — for light
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. staff — employees
  20. tear — to rip
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bulb — for light
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. wind — moving air

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