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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. capital — a city
  3. rule — government
  4. content — happy
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. fall — to drop
  7. ground — the earth
  8. ground — a position
  9. rock — a stone
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. capital — money
  12. spring — a coil
  13. rule — a law
  14. spring — of water
  15. spring — the season
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. content — the amount
  20. rock — music
  21. fall — the season
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. ground — crushed
  24. fall — to drop

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