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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 120 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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. capital — a city
  3. content — happy
  4. content — the amount
  5. mug — a cup
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. wind — moving air
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. mug — a face
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. mug — to rob
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. wind — moving air
  20. ball — a great time
  21. bat — the animal
  22. capital — money
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. bat — in an idiom

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