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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 kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. capital — a city
  7. ball — a great time
  8. field — farmland
  9. mine — for digging
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. wax — to grow
  15. field — a subject
  16. chip — for betting
  17. chip — to eat
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. content — the amount
  20. content — happy
  21. field — for sport
  22. capital — money
  23. ball — a dance
  24. chip — in a computer

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