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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 ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. swing — to play on
  3. capital — money
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. content — the amount
  6. capital — a city
  7. board — a committee
  8. board — to get on
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. spell — a short time
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. sharp — clever
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. content — happy
  15. spell — magic
  16. swing — music
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. bat — the animal
  19. spell — letters
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. swing — in golf
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. capital — a big letter

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