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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. craft — boats
  4. capital — a city
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. craft — a skill
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. snap — to click
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. content — the amount
  18. wind — moving air
  19. capital — money
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. wind — moving air
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. hide — to keep secret

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