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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. ball — a dance
  3. capital — money
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. cap — a lid
  7. capital — a city
  8. game — a match
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. ground — crushed
  13. content — the amount
  14. game — wild animals
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. content — happy
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. cap — a hat
  20. ball — a great time
  21. cap — of ice
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. ground — the earth

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