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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. Is it ________________ for us to be here?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. spring — the season
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. content — happy
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. capital — money
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. cell — in biology
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. lie — to recline
  13. content — the amount
  14. spring — of water
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bass — the fish
  18. bass — low music
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. spring — a coil
  21. cell — a phone
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. safe — out of danger

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