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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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Word bank
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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 lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. clip — for paper
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. capital — a city
  5. vault — a safe
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. wound — an injury
  8. capital — money
  9. key — for a lock
  10. chest — of your body
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. content — the amount
  13. key — the most important part
  14. content — happy
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. chest — of your body
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wound — an injury
  22. key — in music
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. racket — a loud noise

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