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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. root — the cause
  4. root — of a word
  5. firm — decided
  6. capital — a city
  7. plane — a tool
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. content — happy
  11. firm — steady
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. capital — money
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. root — of a plant
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. mine — for digging
  21. ball — a dance
  22. bat — the animal
  23. content — the amount
  24. firm — a company

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