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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. capital — a city
  4. charge — a price
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. cap — a lid
  7. cap — of ice
  8. capital — money
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mine — for digging
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. cap — a hat
  13. rock — a stone
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. charge — electricity
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. content — the amount
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. wake — a trail
  21. chair — a leader
  22. charge — in control
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. rock — music

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