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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 116 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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. content — the amount
  3. clip — to cut
  4. snap — to click
  5. rash — a series
  6. content — happy
  7. bank — of a river
  8. capital — a city
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. game — wild animals
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. bank — for money
  14. game — a match
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. clip — a video
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. clip — for paper
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. rash — hasty
  23. bank — for money
  24. racket — for tennis

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