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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 116 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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. pop — soda
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. row — to paddle
  5. content — the amount
  6. capital — a city
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. game — wild animals
  9. row — a line
  10. bulb — for light
  11. capital — money
  12. dip — to sink
  13. pop — to visit
  14. bulb — for light
  15. cap — a hat
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. content — happy
  19. pop — music
  20. cap — of ice
  21. game — a match
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. cap — a lid
  24. bulb — of a plant

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