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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. firm — decided
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. firm — a company
  6. charge — electricity
  7. charge — a price
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. capital — a city
  12. degree — temperature
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. firm — steady
  16. degree — from a university
  17. content — happy
  18. band — a music group
  19. degree — an amount
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. wake — a trail
  22. charge — in control
  23. band — a ring
  24. content — the amount

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