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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. shower — to wash
  3. spell — magic
  4. chest — of your body
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. rest — what's left
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. spell — a short time
  9. bass — low music
  10. content — the amount
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. rest — what's left
  13. bass — the fish
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. shower — rain
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — money
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. chest — of your body
  21. spell — letters
  22. content — happy
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. chest — a box

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