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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. current — of water
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. bat — the animal
  6. ball — a great time
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. swing — music
  10. wake — a trail
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. bark — to shout
  14. content — happy
  15. capital — a city
  16. current — happening now
  17. content — the amount
  18. ball — a dance
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. current — electric
  22. swing — to play on
  23. swing — in golf
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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