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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. perch — the fish
  3. vault — a safe
  4. cap — a hat
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. content — the amount
  7. capital — a city
  8. file — a tool
  9. last — to go on
  10. cap — of ice
  11. last — final
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. last — finally
  14. file — a document
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. content — happy
  20. capital — money
  21. file — a line of people
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. cap — a lid

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