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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. spell — a short time
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. club — for golf
  6. rock — a stone
  7. spell — letters
  8. content — happy
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. capital — a city
  13. mine — for digging
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. club — a group
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. rock — music
  18. sharp — clever
  19. capital — money
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. club — for dancing
  22. hand — in cards
  23. hand — help
  24. spell — magic

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