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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. content — the amount
  3. fall — to drop
  4. content — happy
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. capital — money
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. rock — music
  10. rock — a stone
  11. fall — to drop
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. cold — an illness
  16. toast — bread
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. stock — goods
  19. fall — the season
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. capital — a city
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. perch — the fish
  24. stock — shares

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