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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 116 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 second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — to cut
  6. spring — the season
  7. wake — a trail
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. content — the amount
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. spring — of water
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. mark — a grade
  16. mark — a trace
  17. snap — to click
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. spring — a coil
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. content — happy
  23. capital — a city
  24. bowl — to roll

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